Héctor Moreno


Héctor Alfredo Moreno Herrera is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a center back for Qatari club Al-Gharafa and the Mexico national team.
Moreno ascended the youth ranks of Club Universidad Nacional, making his senior debut in 2006 at the age of 18. He moved abroad a year later, joining Dutch side AZ Alkmaar, with whom he won his first league title. He joined Spanish side Espanyol in 2011, playing with the side for four years before returning to the Netherlands with PSV Eindhoven. In 2017, Moreno had a short spell with Roma before moving back to Spain with Real Sociedad.
Moreno was a member of the Mexico under-17 national team that won the 2005 World Championship held in Peru. He has also represented Mexico at the 2010, 2014, and 2018 FIFA World Cups, as well as the 2011 and 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup, the Copa América Centenario, and the 2013 and 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup.

Club career

Club Universidad Nacional

Héctor Moreno joined Club Universidad Nacional's youth system in 2003 at age 15, and made his way into the first team after winning the FIFA U-17 World Championship with Mexico in 2005.
Moreno made his professional debut during the Clausura 2006 tournament, coming on as an 88th-minute substitute for Gerardo Galindo in the 1–0 victory over Santos Laguna on 22 January. He played his first full 90 minutes on 12 February in a 2–0 win over Veracruz, and scored his first goal the following week in a 1–3 defeat to Cruz Azul. Moreno would end the Clausura making six appearances in total. He would eventually secure his position as a regular starter.
For the Apertura 2007, Moreno would play in his first, and only, league final with UNAM, losing to Atlante 2–1 on aggregate.

AZ

On 13 December 2007, it was announced Moreno was transferred to Dutch club AZ in a US$4.5 million deal. He made his Eredivisie debut on 1 March 2008 in a 1–1 draw against Roda JC, playing the full 90 minutes. In April 2009, Moreno won his first Eredivisie title with AZ. On 22 April, it was reported Moreno had signed a contract extension with AZ which would tie him to the club until 2014.
On 25 July, AZ won the Johan Cruyff Shield after defeating Heerenvecen 5–1 in the final. Moreno made his debut in the UEFA Champions League on 16 September in a 0–1 defeat to Olympiacos. On 7 February 2010, Moreno gave Alkmaar a 2–1 victory over Feyenoord by scoring a header from a corner-kick in the 87th minute. He scored his third goal of the season in a 6–2 victory over RKC Waalwijk on 13 March 2010. He would score his fourth goal in a 3–0 victory over Willem II on 18 April.

Espanyol

On 22 June 2011, it was announced Moreno would transfer to Spanish La Liga club Espanyol on a five-year contract for an undisclosed fee. On 28 August, he made his debut in La Liga against Mallorca. On 26 September, he scored his first goal in a 1–3 loss to Levante. On 3 December, he would score his second league goal in a 1–2 loss to Valencia. Moreno scored his third goal of the season in a 3–1 home win against Racing de Santander.
On 4 October 2012, Moreno was named Espanyol's Player of the Year for the 2011–12 season, his debut season, playing 35 league matches and scoring three goals with one assist.
Prior to the start of the 2014–15 season, it was announced Moreno would be out of action for up to six months due to a broken left tibia he suffered while playing for Mexico at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, which would require surgery and rehabilitation. It was rumoured the injury prevented him from signing for Manchester United during the summer transfer window. Moreno made his return after four months on 14 November in a friendly against Marseille, replacing Felipe Caicedo in the 68th minute in an eventual 2–1 win.
Moreno made his official return with Espanyol on 2 December, coming off the bench to replace Álvaro in the 73rd minute in the 2–0 victory over Alavés in the first leg of the round of 32 of the Copa del Rey.

PSV

On 15 August 2015, PSV announced the signing of Moreno. Upon his return to the Eredivisie, Moreno signed a four-year contract for €5 million with the club.
Moreno was handed a starting berth on his debut and played all 90 minutes in the 6–0 win over Cambuur on 12 September. Three days later, during PSV's opening 2015–16 UEFA Champions League match against Manchester United, Moreno broke the leg of Luke Shaw as the result of a two-footed challenge. He was not sanctioned for the tackle on Shaw, and Moreno went on to score the 47th-minute equaliser for PSV as they defeated Manchester United 2–1 in the match. He was later named UEFA Man of the Match.
On 17 January 2016, Moreno scored in PSV's 2–0 win over Feyenoord. A week later, he scored his first double as PSV defeated Twente 4–2 with assists provided by fellow Mexico international teammate, Andrés Guardado.
On 8 May, Moreno played all 90 minutes in PSV's defeat of PEC Zwolle 3–1 on the final matchday to be crowned 2015–16 Eredivisie champions.
On 31 July, PSV won the 2016 Johan Cruyff Shield but Moreno was not present on the field or bench.
The following season, Moreno played in 39 matches across all competitions, and scored seven goals, a career-high tally, though PSV failed to defend the league as they finished in third place.

Roma

On 13 June 2017, Moreno joined Italian side Roma on a four-year contract. He made his Serie A debut on 16 September in Roma's 3–0 win over Hellas Verona, replacing Kostas Manolas in the 73rd minute.

Real Sociedad

On 31 January 2018, Spanish club Real Sociedad announced the transfer of Moreno from Roma for €6 million, signing with the club until 2021. On 15 February, he made his competitive debut for La Real against Red Bull Salzburg in the Europa League, playing 76 minutes in the team's 2–2 draw. During midweek training, however, Moreno suffered a grade 1 injury to his internal obturator, meaning he would be ruled out for an undisclosed period of time. He returned and made his debut in La Liga with Real Sociedad on 1 March in a scoreless draw against Real Betis. Three days later, he scored his first goal against Deportivo Alavés, giving his team the lead at the 6th minute, in an eventual 2–1 victory.

Al-Gharafa

He transferred to Al-Gharafa in July 2019, making him the first Mexican international player to play in Qatar Stars League. He made his debut the following month on 22 August in a 3–0 victory over Al-Shahania. On 9 November, he would score his first goal for the team in a 2–0 victory over Umm Salal SC.

International career

Mexico U-17

Moreno was called up to participate at the 2005 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Peru. Mexico would go on to win the tournament, beating Brazil in the final 3–0.

Mexico U-20

During Mexico's first match at the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup against Gambia, Moreno played as a defensive midfielder and scored Mexico's third goal in a 3–0 victory. Mexico would win their group but would be eliminated in the quarter-finals by Argentina.

Mexico national team

Moreno made his Mexico senior team debut on 17 October 2007 under Hugo Sánchez in a friendly against Guatemala.
Moreno was included by Javier Aguirre to be a part of the 23-man squad that would participate in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He made his debut in the Group A match against France on 17 June, which Mexico won 2–0. Moreno would also start against Uruguay.
Moreno was called up by José Manuel de la Torre to be part of the national team that won the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup. He played in all of Mexico's matches, as well as the final against the United States, which Mexico won 4–2.
On 12 June 2012, Moreno the winning goal for Mexico in a 2–1 over El Salvador in a 2014 World Cup qualifying match, the first of his career.
He was called up for the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup. He appeared in every match as Mexico finished 3rd in the group stage.
On 5 June 2014, national team coach Miguel Herrera named Moreno in the final 23-man squad for the 2014 World Cup. On 29 June, in the round of 16 match against the Netherlands, Moreno suffered a fractured tibia after a collision with Dutch striker Arjen Robben inside his own penalty area. Moreno was stretched off the field a few minutes before half-time and was substituted by Diego Reyes. It was later reported Moreno was expected to be ruled out of action for up to six months.
On 27 June 2015, during Mexico's friendly match against Costa Rica, Moreno was substituted off at half-time after complaining of pain. On 1 July, the Mexican Football Federation announced Moreno would be ruled out of the upcoming 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament after a successful surgery on his right foot, which stemmed from complications related to a procedure he underwent six years prior following an injury to his fifth metatarsal. He was replaced in the squad by Oswaldo Alanís.
In May 2016, he was called up for the Copa América Centenario by Juan Carlos Osorio.
He was called up for the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup. He would score the late equalizer in the 2–2 group-stage draw against Portugal. He would go on to appear all five matches of the tournament.
In May 2018, he was named in Mexico's preliminary 28-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, and in June, was named in Mexico's 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. He would appear in all group stage matches but accumulated two yellow cards during the group stage, making him miss out on the round-of-16 0–2 loss against Brazil.
On 6 June 2019, Moreno was called up by coach Gerardo Martino to participate in the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Three days later, in a warm-up match against Ecuador, he would pick up an injury following a clearance. He would return to the field on 29 June in the quarter-final match against Costa Rica, coming in as an overtime substitute at the 106th minute and managing to score in the penalty shoot-out. On 2 July, Moreno played his 100th match with Mexico against Haiti, in a 1–0 win in the semi-finals of the Gold Cup. The team would go on to win the tournament, defeating the United States 1–0 in the final.

Style of play

Moreno is a left-footed defender who is capable of starting attacks from the back and "with excellent passing that characterizes the modern center back." Writing for Bleacher Report, Allan Jiang described him as being able to "read and quickly react in adverse situations", as well as having positional awareness. He described Moreno's playing style as retaining the dominant defensive position, jockeying and forcing the opposing player into a mistake.

Career statistics

Club

International

As of match played 19 November 2019

International goals

GoalDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.12 June 2012Estadio Cuscatlán, San Salvador, El Salvador2–12–12014 FIFA World Cup qualification
2.2 September 2016Estadio Cuscatlán, San Salvador, El Salvador1–13–12018 FIFA World Cup qualification
3.18 June 2017Kazan Arena, Kazan, Russia2–22–22017 FIFA Confederations Cup
4.22 March 2019SDCCU Stadium, San Diego, United States2–03–1Friendly

Honours

Club

;AZ
;PSV
;Mexico U-17
;Mexico