Richard Morales

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Morales and the second or maternal family name is Aguirre.

Richard Morales

Personal information
Full name	Richard Javier Morales Aguirre
Date of birth	(1975-02-21) 21 February 1975
Place of birth	Las Piedras, Uruguay
Height	1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)
Position(s)	Centre forward
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1996	Platense	12	(1)
1997–1998	Basáñez	14	(7)
1999–2002	Nacional	98	(44)
2003–2005	Osasuna	50	(11)
2005–2007	Málaga	42	(3)
2007–2008	Nacional	25	(8)
2008–2009	Grêmio	6	(1)
2009	LDU	3	(0)
2009–2010	Fénix	5	(0)
Total		255	(75)
International career
2001–2005	Uruguay	27	(6)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Ríchard Javier Morales Aguirre (born 21 February 1975) is a Uruguayan retired footballer who played as a centre forward.

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 at the 2002 World Cup, as well as in two Copa América tournaments.

Club career

Morales was born in Las Piedras, Canelones Department. After starting his professional career with Club Atlético Platense and Basáñez, he transferred to Club Nacional de Football in 1999. There, he helped the capital club to the 1998 Primera División title.

In January 2003, Morales moved to Spain, reuniting with Pablo García at CA Osasuna. 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 and Málaga CF), he scored nine La Liga goals in the 2004–05 campaign, being instrumental in the Navarrese side's narrow escape from relegation.

Morales signed for Málaga subsequently, but would only net once in 2005–06 as the Andalusians 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 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 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.

International career

Having first appeared for Uruguay at 26, during the 2001 Copa América – where he scored in the 1–2 semi-final loss to Mexico– Morales came to international prominence on 15 November 2001, when his two late goals against Australia in the qualification playoffs ensured his country a place at the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

In the final stages in South Korea and Japan, Morales netted once in the 3–3 draw against Senegal, but in the final stages 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 caps, scoring six goals.

International goals for Uruguay

Score and results list Uruguay's goal tally first.

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	25 July 2001	Estadio Hernán Ramírez Villegas, Pereira, Colombia	Mexico	1–1	1–2	2001 Copa América
2.	25 November 2001	Estadio Centenario, Montevideo, Uruguay	Australia	2–0	3–0	2002 FIFA World Cup play-off
3.				3–0
4.	21 May 2002	National Stadium, Singapore	Singapore	1–0	2–1	Friendly
5.				2–0
6.	11 June 2002	Suwon World Cup Stadium, Suwon, South Korea	Senegal	1–3	3–3	2002 FIFA World Cup

External links

• Richard Morales at BDFutbol
• National team data (in Spanish)
• Richard Morales at National-Football-Teams.com
• Richard Morales – FIFA competition record (archived)
• Richard Morales at ESPN FC