Ríchard Javier Morales Aguirre (born 21 February 1975) is a Uruguayan retired

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

centre forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on be ...

. Nicknamed ''Chengue'', he was mostly known for his tremendous physical strength and volatile temperament. He played professionally in four countries – mainly Spain – his heyday coming at Nacional. Morales represented

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

at the

2002 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 ...

, as well as in two

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 ...

tournaments.

Club career

Morales was born in Las Piedras,

Canelones Department The Departamento de Canelones (; ) is one of the 19 Uruguayan departments. With an area of and 608,956 inhabitants at the 2023 Census, it is located in the south of Uruguay. Its capital is Canelones. Ciudad de la Costa is the largest city by ...

. After starting his professional career with

Club Atlético Platense Club Atlético Platense is an Argentine sports club based in Florida, Buenos Aires. The club nickname is (Squid) after the journalist Palacio Zino said that the team moved "like a squid in its ink". Although the club hosts many activities, Pla ...

and Basáñez, he transferred to

Club Nacional de Football Club Nacional de Football (, ''National Football Club'') is a Uruguayan professional sports club based in La Blanqueada, La Blanqueada, Montevideo. The club was founded on 14 May 1899 as a result of the merger between ''Uruguay Athletic Club'' an ...

in 1999. There, he helped the

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

club to the 1998 Primera División title. In January 2003, Morales moved to Spain, reuniting with Pablo García at

CA Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club based in Pamplona, Navarre. It was founded on 24 October 1920 and plays in La Liga, the top division of Spanish football. The team's ...

. After spending his first two and a half seasons as a rarely used attacking option (his first goals came in late April-early March 2004 in two consecutive 1–1 draws, against

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid (), is a Spanish professional List of football clubs in Spain, football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León that will compete from the 2025–26 season in the . The club ...

and

Málaga CF Málaga Club de Fútbol (, ''Málaga Football Club''), or simply Málaga, is a club based in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, who compete in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system, following the ...

), he scored nine

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

goals in the 2004–05 campaign, being instrumental in the

Navarre Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...

se side's narrow escape from relegation. Morales signed for Málaga subsequently, but would only net once in 2005–06 as the

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

ns went on to rank last, adding just two in the following season's second division. On 5 August 2008 Morales, after a brief return stint with Nacional, agreed to a contract with

Clube de Regatas do Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; ), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian multi sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea. It was founded and named after the Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro, Flamengo n ...

for the rest of the campaign, with the option to renew the contract for another year. However, the following day, after club players were violently attacked by its fans, he decided not to join the

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

team. On 31 August 2008, Morales signed with Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense. The following 16 February he moved to L.D.U. Quito, but left the squad on 2 April due to his father's poor health; before retiring the following year, he played a few matches for

Centro Atlético Fénix Centro Atlético Fénix is a Uruguayan sports club from Montevideo. The football team currently plays in Uruguayan Segunda División. Fénix is one of the most popular and traditional teams of Uruguay's 2nd Division, along with Racing Club de Mo ...

International career

Having first appeared for

at 26, during the 2001 Copa América – where he scored in the 1–2 semi-final loss to

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

– Morales came to international prominence on 15 November 2001, when his two late goals against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in the qualification playoffs ensured his country a place 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 the final stages in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

and

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, Morales netted once in the 3–3 draw against

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

, but he missed a header that would have been his team's fourth goal and taken Uruguay through to the Round of 16. He received a total of 27

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, scoring six goals. International goals for Uruguay :''Score and results list Uruguay's goal tally first.''

References

External links

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National team data
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Morales, Richard 1975 births Living people African diaspora in Uruguay Uruguayan people of Spanish descent Uruguayan men's footballers Men's association football forwards Uruguayan Primera División players Uruguayan Segunda División players Club Nacional de Football players Centro Atlético Fénix players La Liga players Segunda División players CA Osasuna players Málaga CF players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Grêmio FBPA players Ecuadorian Serie A players L.D.U. Quito footballers Uruguay men's international footballers 2001 Copa América players 2002 FIFA World Cup players 2004 Copa América players Uruguayan expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Brazil Expatriate men's footballers in Ecuador Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Spain Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Brazil Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Ecuador Footballers from Las Piedras, Uruguay