Ramón Morales Higuera (born 10 October 1975) is a Mexican former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Club career

Morales made his professional debut in the

Mexican Primera División Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divi ...

in 1995, playing for Rayados de Monterrey in a 0–0 draw match, against

Tecos UAG Tecos Fútbol Club, simply known as Tecos, is a Mexican professional Association football, football club based in Zapopan, Jalisco, and associated with the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara (UAG). It competes in Liga Premier de México, Liga ...

. Ramón was a key figure for

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...

and has been so for years, aiding the team with swift counterattacks, precise crosses and through passes. He was a vital part in Chivas' Championship Apertura 2006 season. On 27 December 2006 Ramón Morales was appointed as Chivas' new

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

for the 2007 season following the departure of ex-Chiva

Oswaldo Sánchez Oswaldo Javier Sánchez Ibarra (; born 21 September 1973) is a Mexican former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper and a sports analyst for TUDN. He is highly regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in Mexican footballing history. ...

Santos Laguna Club Santos Laguna S.A. de C.V., simply known as Santos Laguna or Santos, is a Mexican professional football club based in Torreón, Coahuila. The club competes in Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football. Founded in 1983 as Club Santos I ...

. Morales scored 66 goals for Guadalajara, which is ninth all-time in club history. His younger brother Carlos, currently plays for Monarcas Morelia and is also a left midfielder. On 11 August 2011, Morales announced his retirement from professional football after a 16-year career.

International career

Morales made his international debut for the Mexico national team on 12 July 2001, playing against

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. Morales played for Mexico at the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

in Korea-Japan, where he appeared in four matches. He also played in the

2004 Copa América The 2004 Copa América was the 41st edition of the Copa América, the South-American championship for international association football teams. The competition was organized by CONMEBOL, South America's football governing body, and was held in P ...

where he scored a freekick goal for Mexico's first official win over Argentina. The game ended 1–0 in favor of Mexico. He also played four games in the

2005 Confederations Cup The 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup football tournament was the seventh FIFA Confederations Cup. It was held in Germany between 15 June and 29 June 2005, as a prelude to the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The tournament was won by 2002 FIFA World Cup and 2004 ...

, in Germany and five games in Mexico's qualification matches for the 2006 World Cup. Morales played in three matches in the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

. He scored a freekick in Mexico's 2–0 win over Brazil in the first round of the

Copa América The CONMEBOL Copa América (; known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship), often simply called the Copa America, is the top men's quadrennial association football, football tournament contested among list of men's national ass ...

Coaching career

On 6 January 2013, Morales was presented as the new coach for Guadalajara Sub-17 Team. On 1 December 2013 he was crowned champions with the Under 17 team in the final against los Tuzos de Pachuca. He was later moved up to be the under-20s coach. On 3 October 2014, he was appointed as the interim coach of the first division team after the resignation of Carlos Bustos. In June 2015, after success with the youth teams, he was appointed as the assistant manager of Jose Manuel de la Torre with the first team. On 14 September 2015, after Jose Manuel de la Torre was released, Morales was appointed as Chivas' interim manager for the second time while a new coach was announced.

Style of play

He was regarded as one of Mexico's most outstanding and skilful attacking left midfielders, with explosive

speed In kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude of the change of its position over time or the magnitude of the change of its position per unit of time; it is thus a non-negative scalar quantity. Intro ...

dribbling In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score. As ...

skills, fast attacking abilities and a powerful left foot, while also being an outstanding free kick taker. Ramón is known as one of the best mid-range free kick takers in Mexico's Primera División. Morales is a versatile player often playing as a

left winger In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

, however it is not uncommon to see him move up in the pitch as a left forward or down on the defensive side as a left-sided wing-back.

Career statistics

International goals

Honours

Guadalajara *

: Apertura 2006 *

InterLiga InterLiga was an association football competition and the qualification method between eight Mexican clubs to determine two clubs qualified for the Copa Libertadores, it was held from 2004 to 2010. History From 1998 to 2003, the Mexican clubs c ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...

runner-up:

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Mexico *

runner-up:

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

; third place:

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

Individual *

Best Attacking Midfielder: Clausura 2006 *Tecate Premios Deportes Best XI: 2008

References

External links

* * * *
Ramón Morales at FootballDatabase.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morales, Ramon 1975 births Men's association football midfielders Living people C.F. Monterrey players C.D. Guadalajara footballers Tecos F.C. footballers Liga MX players 2002 FIFA World Cup players 2004 Copa América players 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2006 FIFA World Cup players 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2007 Copa América players Mexico men's international footballers People from La Piedad Footballers from Michoacán Mexican men's footballers