Fernando Morientes

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Fernando Morientes

Morientes in action for Liverpool in 2005
Personal information
Full nameFernando Morientes Sánchez
Date of birth (1976-04-05) 5 April 1976
Place of birthCáceres, Spain
Height1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing positionStriker
Youth career
Albacete
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
1993–1995Albacete22(5)
1995–1997Zaragoza66(28)
1997–2005Real Madrid182(72)
2003–2004→ Monaco (loan)28(10)
2005–2006Liverpool41(8)
2006–2009Valencia66(19)
2009–2010Marseille12(1)
Total417(143)
National team
1993–1994Spain U1812(10)
1995Spain U205(1)
1995–1998Spain U2116(4)
1996Spain U232(0)
1998–2007Spain47(27)
Teams managed
2012Huracán (youth)
2012–Real Madrid (youth)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).
This name uses Spanish naming customs; the first or paternal family name is Morientes and the second or maternal family name is Sánchez.

Fernando Morientes Sánchez (Spanish pronunciation: [ferˈnando moˈɾjentes ˈsantʃeθ]; born 5 April 1976) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a striker.

His main assets were his aerial and strong goalscoring abilities. He played for a number of clubs during his career, including Real Madrid, Monaco, Liverpool and Valencia. In La Liga he scored 124 goals in 337 games, over the course of 15 seasons.

Morientes played 47 times for the Spanish national team, representing the country in two World Cups (totalling five goals) and one European Championship.

Club career

Early career

Born in Cáceres, Extremadura, Morientes moved to Sonseca, Province of Toledo, at the age of four. He began his professional career at Albacete Balompié, making his La Liga debut in the 1993–94 season, playing two seasons with the club and scoring five goals in 22 games (nine starts and 13 substitute appearances).

Morientes transferred to Real Zaragoza in 1995, where he spent another two campaigns, often being partnered up front by Dani, a Real Madrid youth graduate.

Real Madrid

Morientes' performances for Zaragoza caught the eye of Spanish giants Real Madrid, which bought the player in the summer of 1997 for approximately €6.6 million. Initially backing up established Predrag Mijatović and Davor Šuker he finished as starter, and managed 12 goals in his first year in 33 matches, squad-best (with the two players who fought with him for a starting berth netting ten apiece, as youth system prodigy Raúl). Real finished fourth in the league, but won the season's UEFA Champions League.

In the 1998–99 campaign Morientes performed very well, scoring 19 goals in the league and 25 in 38 appearances overall. He continued to display top football in 1999–2000, netting 19 goals and finishing as Real's top scorer in a year where he also helped to the capital side's second Champions League title in three seasons, scoring in the 3–0 win over Valencia CF in an all-Spanish final; in the next season he won the first of two league titles with Real Madrid and netted 10 goals overall, including four in eight appearances in the Champions League as Real lost in the semifinals to eventual winners FC Bayern Munich – he missed the last part of the domestic campaign due to injury.

In 2001–02 Real failed to win the league, losing out to Valencia. Morientes continued his scoring form, however, scoring 18 league goals in only 25 starts, with six substitute appearances. He also netted five in Real's 7–0 demolition of UD Las Palmas, missing out on a double hat-trick after missing from the penalty spot late in the match; he finished second in the top scorers list for the season, tied with Patrick Kluivert and behind Deportivo de La Coruña's Diego Tristán, as Real were successful in winning the Champions League after beating Bayer 04 Leverkusen – he played in the final and received a third Champions League winners medal.

In the summer of 2002, Real Madrid signed Brazilian superstar Ronaldo from Inter Milan. This fueled rumours that Morientes would soon be leaving the club, with FC Barcelona and Tottenham Hotspur reportedly interested – the former were reportedly on the verge of signing the player for around €22 million, but the move fell through due to Barça's reluctance to match his wage demands. Eventually, he decided to stay at Madrid, but as predicted he did not feature as much in the side after the arrival of Ronaldo, who was preferred to Morientes in the starting lineup along with Raúl. He eventually fell down the pecking order of strikers to Guti and Javier Portillo and, during a February 2003 home win against Borussia Dortmund – 2–1 in the Champions League second group stage – was involved in a highly publicised spat with club manager Vicente del Bosque, with the player allegedly insulting the coach after being called to enter the pitch as a third replacement in the dying minutes;[1][2] in the winter transfer window, despite continuous rumours of moves to Tottenham, Zaragoza, A.S. Roma, and A.C. Milan, he remained at the club for the remainder of the season, as Real went on to win the league and the player earned his second league medal, making a total of 15 appearances (with three starts) and scoring five goals.

At the start of the 2003–04 season, it was evident Morientes was not part of Madrid's plans. After extensive but ultimately unsuccessful negotiations regarding a loan deal with Germany's FC Schalke 04, he was loaned to Ligue 1 side AS Monaco FC,[3] where he performed very well, netting 10 goals in 28 appearances in the league. It was in the Champions League, however, that he really made an impact, finishing as the top scorer at nine goals: Monaco met Real Madrid in the quarter-finals,[4] where he scored a vital away goal in the first leg (2–4 away loss); in the second match he again found the net as the French won 3–1, taking the aggregate score to 5–5 (away goals rule triumph); he also scored in the semifinal victory over Chelsea, but could not prevent Monaco from losing 0–3 in the final to F.C. Porto, played at the Arena AufSchalke in Gelsenkirchen.

After returning to Real Madrid at the start of the 2004–05 campaign, Morientes' hopes of forcing his way into the Real squad were further dampened with the arrival of Michael Owen from Liverpool. He featured in 13 scoreless league matches (all as a substitute), and was transferred to precisely Liverpool in January 2005 for a fee of €9.3 million;[5] during his time at Real he made a total of 182 league appearances (with 112 starts), scoring 82 goals.

Liverpool

Morientes made his debut for Liverpool against Manchester United and scored his first goal for the club on 1 February 2005, against Charlton Athletic. He was cup-tied for Liverpool's Champions League campaign and did not feature in their victory against Milan in the final of the competition.

Although Morientes came to Liverpool with a very good reputation, his transfer to Merseyside was followed by a large dip in form. He netted only three goals in 2004–05 and did not fare much better in the following season; although he showed glimpses of quality including a well-taken opening goal against Aston Villa and a brace in a 2–0 win against Middlesbrough, he could only find the net five times in 28 outings in the Premier League.

At the end of the 2005–06 campaign, Morientes was sold to Valencia. During his spell at Anfield he managed only 12 goals in 60 appearances, although he was part of the squads that won the 2005 UEFA Super Cup and the 2006 FA Cup.

Valencia

Morientes transferred to Valencia in late May 2006 for a fee reported to be around £3 million.[6] Here, he started to regain his form, scoring on his league debut – a 2–1 home win against Real Betis –[7]and also netting a hat-trick in his first Champions League game against Olympiacos FC.[8] He linked up well with David Villa and scored 12 league goals in 24 games, and was also Valencia's top scorer in the Champions League with seven; his good form throughout the 2006–07 season also earned him a recall to the national side.

For the 2007–08 campaign, Morientes and Villa were joined in the strike force by Nikola Žigić and Javier Arizmendi. The season, however, was disappointing, as the Che were knocked out of the Champions League after finishing fourth in the group, and manager Quique Flores was sacked following a poor run of form. Morientes picked up an injury in December 2007 that ruled him out for almost three months, and he made his return to the team against Sevilla FC on 15 March 2008; he also came off the bench to score the third and final goal in Valencia's 3–1 win over Getafe CF in the season's Copa del Rey final, the following month.[9]

Morientes missed out on a further few league games after he was hospitalised in April with abdominal pains and fever.[10] He was released from hospital in time for the final two matches of the season, but played no part in either.

Having begun the following campaign as an unused substitute in Valencia's first league game, and only coming on as a substitute in the second, Morientes was handed his first start in a UEFA Cup match against C.S. Marítimo of Portugal, and he scored the only goal of the game, a solo effort at the 12-minute mark. His increasing age and the form of Villa and Juan Mata, however, led to only a handful of appearances in the league; as Valencia were ousted in the round-of-32, he still finished as the club's top scorer in the European competition, at three goals in seven matches.

Marseille

On 27 July 2009, Morientes agreed a deal to join France's Olympique de Marseille on a free transfer for one year, reuniting with former Monaco boss Didier Deschamps.[11] During his first and only season he was only the fourth of five strikers in the squad, and was released on 1 July 2010 by mutual consent.[12]

On 31 August 2010, 34-year-old Morientes announced his retirement from football.[13]

Coaching

Morientes started his career as manager with Huracán Valencia CF, taking charge of its youth academy.[14] In 2012 he returned to Real Madrid, being appointed at the Juvenil B team in the youth academy.[15]

International career

Morientes was a reliable performer for his national team since 1998. He scored a brace in the first five minutes of his debut against Sweden on 25 March, adding a further two in each of his next two games, against Northern Ireland and Bulgaria respectively; he ranks fourth on the Spanish all-time topscorer's list with 27 goals in 47 appearances, behind former Real Madrid teammate Raúl, former Valencia teammate Villa and former Madrid captain Fernando Hierro (who took the majority of Spain's free kicks and penalties), although his goals-to-games ratio is higher than Raúl and Hierro.

Morientes netted five goals in the two FIFA World Cups he featured in, with two goals in 1998 and three in 2002. In the latter edition Morientes and Raúl played together up front, and both showed impressive form in the tournament; during the knock-out round match against South Korea the former scored a goal in extra-time that was disallowed, although replays suggested the goal was legitimate – Spain eventually lost the match on penalties.

Morientes was a surprise omission at UEFA Euro 2000, but played at Euro 2004 in Portugal, where he scored one of only two goals that Spain could manage, in a subsequent group stage exit. He also played for the nation during the 2006 World Cup qualifiers; however, due to his poor club form for Liverpool, he was not chosen by national team coach Luis Aragonés in the final squad for the tournament, although he was part of an initial 31-man list.

Following his return to form after moving to Valencia, Morientes was recalled to the national side. He scored his 27th goal for Spain in a Euro 2008 qualifier against Denmark on 24 March 2007; injured four days later against Iceland in another qualifying contest, he was not recalled again.

International goals

Statistics

Club

[16]

Club performance League Cup League Cup Continental Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Spain League Copa del Rey Supercopa de España Europe Total
1993–94AlbaceteLa Liga2000-0020
1994–9520562-00267
1995–96ZaragozaLa Liga291333-523718
1996–97371531-004016
1997–98Real MadridLa Liga331220-1044516
1998–99331956-504325
1999–2000291210-1464418
2000–0122610-843110
2001–02331850-1134921
2002–0318521-70276
2003–041000-0010
France League Coupe de France Coupe de la Ligue Europe Total
2003–04MonacoLigue 1281023001294222
Spain League Copa del Rey Supercopa de España Europe Total
2004–05Real MadridLa Liga13021-62213
England League FA Cup League Cup Europe Total
2004–05LiverpoolPremier League133002000153
2005–062855110113459
Spain League Copa del Rey Supercopa de España Europe Total
2006–07ValenciaLa Liga241230-973619
2007–0822611-81318
2008–0920152-53306
France League Coupe de France Coupe de la Ligue Europe Total
2009–10MarseilleLigue 111100-20131
Total Spain 3361242717-8832451173
France 391123001495523
England 41851301136012
Career total 41614334213011344566208

International

Spain national team
YearAppsGoals
199867
199962
200000
200143
2002115
200333
200484
200542
200620
200731
Total4727

Honours

Club

Real Madrid
Monaco
Liverpool
Valencia
Marseille

Country

Spain U21

Individual

References

  1. ↑ Del Bosque admite el grave incidente con Morientes (Del Bosque admits serious incident with Morientes); El Mundo, 21 February 2003 (Spanish)
  2. ↑ Waiting game for Madrid strikers; UEFA.com, 14 May 2003
  3. ↑ Morientes loaned to Monaco; UEFA.com, 31 August 2003
  4. ↑ Away trip takes Morientes home; UEFA.com, 24 March 2004
  5. ↑ Morientes lured by Liverpool; UEFA.com, 12 January 2005
  6. ↑ Valencia calling for Morientes; UEFA.com, 26 May 2006
  7. ↑ "Valencia 2-1 Real Betis". ESPN Soccernet. 26 August 2006. Retrieved 12 November 2012. 
  8. ↑ Points matter most for Morientes; UEFA.com, 13 September 2006
  9. ↑ Morientes glad as Valencia get relief; UEFA.com, 17 April 2008
  10. ↑ "Fernando Morientes, ingresado de madrugada con un fuerte dolor abdominal y fiebre" [Fernando Morientes, admitted to hospital in early morning with strong abdominal pains and fever] (in Spanish). El Mundo. 22 April 2008. Retrieved 12 November 2012. 
  11. ↑ Abriel and Morientes swell OM ranks; UEFA.com, 28 July 2009
  12. ↑ "Marseille release Morientes from contract". ESPN Soccernet. 1 July 2010. Retrieved 1 July 2010. 
  13. ↑ "Former Real Madrid striker Fernando Morientes announces retirement". Goal.com. 31 August 2010. Retrieved 31 August 2010. 
  14. ↑ Fernando Morientes, un becario de lujo para Huracán (Fernando Morientes, intern deluxe for Huracán); Huracán's official website, 12 January 2012 (Spanish)
  15. ↑ El Juvenil B comenzó la pretemporada 2012/2013 (Juvenil B started the 2012/2013 preseason); Real Madrid's official website, 1 August 2012 (Spanish)
  16. ↑ FootballDatabase profile and stats
  17. ↑ Italia ya ganó un Europeo a España en el 1996 (Italy has already won European Championships against Spain in 1996); Orgullo Bianconero, 18 June 2013 (Spanish)

External links

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