Alejandro Morera Soto

Football player infobox| playername= Alejandro Morera Soto
fullname = Alejandro Morera Soto
nickname = El Mago del Balon
dateofbirth = birth date|1909|07|14
dateofdeath = death date and age|1995|03|26|1909|07|14
cityofbirth = Alajuela
countryofbirth = Costa Rica
height =
weight =
currentclub =
position = Forward
youthyears =
youthclubs = LD Alajuelense
years = 1925-1927 1927-1928 1928-1933 1933 1933-1935 1935-1936 1936 1936-1947
clubs = LD Alajuelense Centro Gallego LD Alajuelense Deportivo Español FC Barcelona Hércules CF Le Havre AC LD Alajuelense
caps(goals) = 3 2
nationalyears = | nationalteam = Costa Rica
nationalcaps(goals) =
pcupdate =
ntupdate =

Alejandro Morera Soto (July 14, 1909 in Alajuela - March 25, 1995) was a Costa Rican football player, who played as a striker mostly for LD Alajuelense in the Costa Rican Primera División. He is considered as the best and most talented player of all time in Costa Rica.

"El Fenomeno costarricense" ("The costarrican phenomenon"), that's how he was nicknamed by the newspaper in Cataluna, Spain, when he was part of FC Barcelona when he became champion in 1934 and also pichichi of this tournament. He was also know for the most as "El Mago del Balón" (The Wizard of the Ball), with a small but powerful foot.

With only 16 years old, in 1925 he made his debut with LD Alajuelense in the Costa Rican Primera División in a game against Sociedad Gimnástica Española and soon he became the captain and star of the team, showing a quality game and scoring a lot of goals. That quality led him outside the country, directly to Cuba at Centro Gallego in 1927. He went back to LD Alajuelense and helped him gain their first tournament in 1928, scoring 4 goals in the last game against CS Herediano and being also the top scorer with 26 along the season. He was an unquestionable piece during LD Alajuelense's tours through Mexico (1931) and Perú (1932), where he received numerous praises due his performance. By February the 19th of 1933 he was invited to Spain by former Orion's player Ricardo Saprissa to make a trial with Real Club Deportivo Español. On April 30 of the same year he played against Real Madrid and by the end of the game he received a 3 season-contract from FC Barcelona.

He made his debut with FC Barcelona in may 18 of 1933 against Tenerife scoring 2 goals in the 3 to 1 win. He even scored a goal against Real Madrid, beating Ricardo Zamora "Divino" in the 2 to 1 loss on September of the same year. By the end of his contract with FC Barcelona he had a Champion title (1934) and a pichichi trophy , also in 1934. Although the fans didn't want him to leave the team he was transfer to Hércules CF the former promoted team. In his first year with them, they reached the second position but due the civil war he had to leave the country and go back to Costa Rica.

He came back to Spain to get his savings from the bank but for unknown reasons he was not able to do it. He had to hide the money he had left in a coughing, because he was going to travel by ship. He boarded the ship but left the coughing at the deck, so with the need to get back to his country and without any money, he had to play 2 games with the French team Le Havre AC in order to gather some money and be able to get back to his country.

He arrive to Costa Rica on November the 2nd of 1936 and continue with his amazing career, again, in LD Alajuelense where he gained another championship in 1939 scoring 3 goals at the final against CS Herediano. And gaining again the title in 1941 (establishing a record, winning the title undefeated) and 1945, both as a player and as a coach at the same time. His last game as a player was on April 6 of 1947 against Municipal Lima, but he continued as a coach until march 7 of 1949.

After his retirement he became member of the parliament for Alajuela (1958-1962) and also Governor and Municipal Executive for Alajuela.

He died on March 26, 1995, at the age of 85, but is always remember by all the alajuelenses and "ticos" because LD Alajuelense's stadium was named under his name, but also because his heart stays at the east seats, where a mausoleum was built to honor and pay tribute to his outstanding career, but mostly to a man that loved the team and gave them a lot of years and a lot of titles and happiness.

External links

* [http://www.ldacr.org Official Website of Liga Deportiva Alajuelense]