Retirement. The great Uruguayan striker Fernando Morena played his last game in 1985 and quit at 33.
Perhaps Nando did not get the international fame he deserved, but the 1970s – his prime years – were dark decade for Uruguayan football as a whole and little was noticed outside the country. Because of that, if only partially, Morena played little abroad, where international recognition could have been forged. A great scorer and dangerous striker, he shined mostly when playing for Penarol and his greatest international success came late in his career – in the 1980s.
It looked like Morena retired a bit early – at 33, he perhaps could do what many South American stars did and do: play for smaller clubs until 37-38 – but very likely heavy injuries were taking their tall on him. But his career was more than remarkable. He debuted in 1968 for Racing (Montevideo) – 16 years old! In the next year he moved to River Plate (Montevideo)
Here he is crouching on the far right in 1970 – he played 3 years for River Plate, 48 games in which he scored 27 goals, and was more than noticed – he was called to the national team in 1971 and scored a goal in his very first match against Chile. Debuted for Uruguay at 19 in 1971 and was steady regular until 1983.
This is still in his early days as national team regular – in 1972 against Spain. Crouching at the far right. In total, he played 53 games for Uruguay and scored 22 goals – and that in the dark decade of Uruguayan football!
Morena played at only one World Cup – in 1974, when Uruguay was particularly bad, another reason he was overlooked by the world and the European clubs in particular. Here he is the last player on the right, 22 years old among aging stars like Mazurkiewicz, Pavoni, Rocha, Cubilla (not in this formation). The biggest success with the national team will come almost 10 years later, in 1983, when Uruguay with Morena, won the South American championship.
It was much better on club level – Penarol got the prolific striker in 1973 and he fitted well, scoring goal after goal.
That was the familiar picture – opposition on the ground, ball in the net, Morena triumphal and powerful. He won 4 titles with Penarol, played 140 games between 1973-79 and scored 162 goals. He scored more goals than the games he played! Few ever did so, Morena was already in very limited club. In all these years with Penarol he was the top scorer of the Uruguayan championship, 6 years in a row. He was also the top scorer of Copa Libertadores in 1974 and 1976.
Perhaps his most memorable match was in 1978 against Huracan Buceo. Penarol won 7-0 and Morena scored all of them. Here is his 7th.
In 1979 he joined Rayo Vallecano (Madrid) – it was not the best move, but very likely Morena had no better European option. He played 34 games and scored 21 goals, but Rayo Vallecano was small club on the verge of relegation. However, his play attracted Valencia.
Morena in the middle, in his trademark position: sitting on the ball. Teammate with Mario Kempes… looked like a lethal combination, but… Valencia took a big dive down after its European success, Kempes was injured and in not in good form… Morena stayed for only one season – 16 goals in 31 games perhaps was not good enough for Valencia at the time.
In 1982 he was back with Penarol and his most successful years began. Between 1981-83, Morena played 50 games, scoring 39 goals, but it was not the domestic success which mattered now. Yes, there were 2 more titles.
But in 1982 Penarol won Copa Libertadores – in a way, it was a reward and recognition for two unlucky great players – Morena and the central defender Walter Olivera, who broke his leg just before the 1974 World Cup and unlike Morena did not appear in any World Cup finals and never played abroad. Both forgotten players finally got recognition via international success.
And soon after winning Copa Libertadores Penarol won the Intercontinental Cup, prevailing over English Aston Villa. Morena played key role in this success as well.
The next year Uruguay won the South American championship with Morena leading the attack. He was 31 years old, seemingly running strong for both club and country. What happened next is difficult to explain, for it looked like Morena suddenly deteriorated. Somehow his foreign adventures never turned right. May be injuries affected his play. May be he was not cut to play abroad. May be he was unlucky, joining the wrong clubs. In 1983 he moved to Flamengo (Rio de Janeiro), but his stay was short and seemingly he did not play official games.
In 1984 he was a player of Boca Juniors (Buenos Aires). The photo hardly tells the truth: here is Morena in the middle and ahead of his teammates, the big star of the team. But he played only 7 games and scored just 1 goal for Boca. That was it – he was back with Penarol in 1985, but hardly played and eventually retired. His last season consisted of 6 games in which he scored twice.
May be, internationally, not the star coming to mind at once, but certainly a legend of Uruguay and Penarol. He is the all-time highest scorer of Uruguay with 233 goals in 240 games. His 22 foals for the national team were beaten years after he retired. His total club record is 268 goals in 316 games.
He is fondly remembered – a fierce centre-forward and scorer,
a winner, a delight.
Occasionally, he is glad to play for Penarol’s veterans.
Mr. Goolllll in his later years, still near the pitch, near Penarol.