Alejandro Moreno

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Alejandro Moreno
Alejandro Moreno 2011 Chivas USA.jpg
Moreno with Chivas USA in 2011
Personal information
Full name Alejandro Enrique Moreno Riera
Date of birth (1979-07-08) July 8, 1979 (age 45)
Place of birth Barquisimeto, Venezuela
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
1993–1998 Dallas Texans
College career
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1998–2001 UNC Greensboro Spartans
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2002–2004 Los Angeles Galaxy 61 (12)
2005 San Jose Earthquakes 31 (8)
2006–2007 Houston Dynamo 34 (3)
2007–2009 Columbus Crew 74 (20)
2010 Philadelphia Union 26 (2)
2011–2012 Chivas USA 46 (7)
Total272(52)
International career
2004–2012 Venezuela 41 (3)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Alejandro Enrique Moreno Riera (born July 8, 1979) is a Venezuelan former professional footballer who played as a forward, and who is a television commentator for ESPN FC, ESPN Deportes and ESPN Latin America. Moreno won three MLS Cups during his professional career. Moreno was chosen in 2021 to work as a commentator in the 2020 European Championship.

Contents

Club career

College

Moreno spent a year in Texas at age 12 and spent succeeding summers there before earning a scholarship for four years of college soccer at UNC Greensboro. He finished his college career fourth on the team's all-time scoring lists, with 65 goals and 25 assists, having been named first team NSCAA All-South all four years with the team.

Professional

After completing his career at Greensboro, Moreno was drafted 27th overall in the 2002 MLS SuperDraft by the Los Angeles Galaxy. He played sparingly in his rookie season, but developed into an excellent sparkplug coming off the bench in his second season, when he registered six goals and two assists in 1,117 minutes of playing time.

Although Moreno exhibited a good deal of promise in 2003, he was not able to earn a consistent starting role with the Galaxy because of a logjam at the forward position, which included Guatemalan star Carlos Ruiz and former US international Jovan Kirovski, as well as recent acquisition Joseph Ngwenya. In 2004, Moreno again registered six goals and two assists, this time in 1,297 minutes. He was traded to San Jose Earthquakes in the offseason in a four-player deal. [1] In his lone season with the Quakes, Moreno scored eight goals with four assists. Along with the rest of his Earthquakes teammates, he moved to Houston for the 2006 season.

Moreno was traded to Columbus Crew on May 10, 2007, in exchange for Joseph Ngwenya. [2] He scored the first goal in the 2008 MLS Cup for Columbus, who eventually won the game 3-1 against New York Red Bulls.

Moreno was selected by Philadelphia Union in the 2009 MLS Expansion Draft on 25 November 2009. [3]

On November 24, 2010, Moreno was selected by Vancouver Whitecaps FC in the 2010 MLS Expansion Draft, but was immediately traded to Chivas USA, along with Alan Gordon, in exchange for allocation money and an international roster spot. [4]

Moreno remained with Chivas USA through the 2012 season. After the conclusion of the 2012 season, Chivas USA declined the 2013 option on Moreno's contract and he entered the 2012 MLS Re-Entry Draft. Moreno became a free agent after he went undrafted in both rounds of the draft. In February 2013, he joined the Philadelphia Union as a television commentator, ending his playing career. [5]

International career

Moreno's performances in MLS saw him receive call-ups for the Venezuela national team. He made his first appearance for the senior team on February 18, 2004, against Australia. Due to his high quality of form during the 2008 MLS season, Moreno was again called up to the Venezuela national team for some 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification matches, scoring against Ecuador on October 15, 2008, in a 3–1 win.

Media career

In 2013, ESPN FC hired Moreno as a color commentator and analyst. He frequently covers Liga MX and Mexico national football team games on ESPN's English-language networks. [6] In 2014, he served as color commentator for the Philadelphia Union of Major League Soccer.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition [7] [8]
ClubSeasonLeague MLS Cup Playoffs U.S. Open Cup International cupTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
LA Galaxy 2002 MLS 1205031—201
2003 24620331 [a] 0309
2004 2562010—286
Total61129074107816
San Jose Earthquakes 2005 MLS3182020—358
Houston Dynamo 2006 MLS3034033—376
2007 40——3 [a] 070
Total343403330446
Columbus Crew 2007 MLS257———257
2008 2794120—3310
2009 22410105 [a] 0294
Total74205130508721
Philadelphia Union 2010 MLS262—10—272
Chivas USA 2011 MLS245———245
2012 222—30—252
Total467—30—497
Career Total272522011979032060
  1. 1 2 3 Appearance(s) in CONCACAF Champions Cup

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year [9]
National teamYearAppsGoals
Venezuela 200430
200510
200620
200852
2009100
201080
2011111
201220
Total423
Scores and results list Venezuela's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Moreno goal.
List of international goals scored by Alejandro Moreno
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetitionRef.
120 August 2008 Estadio José Antonio Anzoátegui, Puerto La Cruz, VenezuelaFlag of the United Arab Republic (1958-1971), Flag of Syria (1980-2024).svg  Syria 4-04-1 Friendly [10]
215 October 2008Estadio José Antonio Anzoátegui, Puerto La Cruz, VenezuelaFlag of Ecuador.svg  Ecuador 2-13-1 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification [11]
325 March 2011 Montego Bay Sports Complex, Montego Bay, JamaicaFlag of Jamaica.svg  Jamaica 2-02-0Friendly [12]

Honors

Los Angeles Galaxy

San Jose Earthquakes

Houston Dynamo

Columbus Crew

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References

  1. ↑ "Quakes Acquire Moreno, Aloisi In Trade With Galaxy | www.ktvu.com". Archived from the original on 2014-11-04. Retrieved 2014-11-04.
  2. ↑ "Dynamo pick up F Ngwenya in trade with Crew - MLS - Yahoo Sports". Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2017-01-14.
  3. ↑ Union select 10 players in expansion draft Archived November 28, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ↑ "Whitecaps FC select ten players in MLS 2010 Expansion Draft - Trade four selections to three MLS clubs". Whitecapsfc.com. 2010-11-23. Retrieved 2012-08-16.
  5. ↑ "Philadelphia Union hire Alejandro Moreno as new color analyst for local television broadcasts". Philadelphia Media Network (Digital), LLC. February 7, 2013. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
  6. ↑ "Alejandro Moreno". ESPN. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
  7. ↑ "Alejandro Moreno". MLS Soccer. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
  8. ↑ "Alejandro MORENO". footballdatabase. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
  9. ↑ "Alejandro Moreno". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
  10. ↑ "Venezuela vs. Syria". National-football-teams.com. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
  11. ↑ "Venezuela vs. Ecuador". National-football-teams.com. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
  12. ↑ "Jamaica vs. Venezuela". National-football-teams.com. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
Sporting positions
Preceded by Chivas USA captain
2012		Succeeded by
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