2023-06-17 10:35:45
“They were very beautiful years, I felt very loved”remember Peter Morales. Lionel’s Arrival Messi to the Major League Soccer (MLS) motivates the former Chilean player to open the trunk of memories, who reviewed the details of a special chapter of his life as a footballer in North America with BBCL.
Born in Hualpén, Morales shone with his own lights and became a true genius, figure and even idol for the Vancouver Whitecapsa club refounded in 2009 with that name, which enjoyed the talent of ‘Pokegol’ in its ranks.
And it is that almost without realizing it, the Chilean and the Canadian team tied an immediate bond.
“He came from playing in Malaga and in 2014, the option of going to Vancouver came up. I talked about it with my family, we saw the city, the league and I didn’t think twice“said the former soccer player to this newsroom.
Despite the fact that soccer in the United States and Canada was something new for him, Morales confessed that this experience “was very different from what we were used to living (with my family). The quality of life, the facilities, everything was different“.
“The treatment was a bit over the top, in a good way, towards me. They literally treated me like a star“He added between laughs.
And it was not for less, with great fanfare, Pedro Morales was hired by Vancouver Whitecaps as a ‘franchise player’power granted by the MLS for its clubs to sign footballers who exceed any salary limit.
With that background on his shoulders, the one trained in Huachipato just had to meet expectations. So he did.
Morales: immediate impact on the pitch… and in video games
In his debut as a player of the ‘Caps’ -which occurred on March 9, 2014- the Hualpenino did not clash, assisting Kenny Miller on the third goal and converting his team’s fourth in the 4-1 win over the New York Red Bulls.
Halfway through his first season in Major League Soccer, Morales earned the fans and the recognition of being named the second captain in Whitecaps history (in the MLS era), following the retirement of Jay DeMerit.
Subsequently, he was awarded by the league as the Newcomer of the Year (hire of the year) and was consolidated as the best player on your teamwith his 11 scores and 14 assists in 35 games played in his first season on American soil.
“In each team where I was, I think I did things well. In Vancouver it was more special, I felt important and the people treated me excellent. Six months after arriving there, he was already the captainI had responsibilities and with that I responded to the confidence that coach Carl Robinson gave me”, recalled the former player.
The 2014 year of the former Dinamo Zagreb in the MLS was so good that even caused an impact in the ‘gamer’ world.
FIFA 15 (in its Canadian edition), had the former Málaga player as the main face on its coversomething that to this day surprises the ex-selection of La Roja.
“That time I received a letter from the club, which said that there was interest in Canada for me to be on the cover of the game. I accepted, I’m not a big fan, but it was actually quite entertaining. They took me to the EA Sports studios and it was full of cameras“.
“I have some copies saved, my son was struck by the fact that ‘the little monkey’ (the virtual Pedro Morales) was so similar to me. After they even made me a Legoimagine, hahaha ”, he added.
Between cotton, sharing with other cracks and a goodbye with your head held high
After his great debut season, Morales’ 2015 seemed to glimpse a remarkable future for his second cycle with the Whitecaps and everything was going well, until an old ghost appeared: the lesions.
Despite being absent in the first duels of that year, the midfielder worked and returned to the field, contributing six goals and four assists in 23 games. Also, he got his first title with the Whitecaps: the Canadian Championship (Copa Voyageurs).
Despite the constant achievement, the Chilean also attaches importance to what it meant to him, to be competing against world stars who also made it to Major League Soccer. “I agreed with Lampard, Pirlo, Gerrard, Villa, Roy Keane, Kaká and also Giovinco in Toronto“.
Already in 2016, Morales’ final season in North American soccer arrived. At the end of the contract, the player himself decided not to renew in Canada -although they did not offer him to continue- and in this way, decided to emigrate to Colo Colo the following year.
Of course, before leaving Whitecaps, the Chilean raised the Cascadia Cup, a trophy created by supporters of Portland Timbers, Seattle Sounders and those of Vancouver, which aims to crown the best club in the Pacific West region.
Pedro Morales definitively closed his career after announcing his retirement in June 2023, after having been inactive for four years. Currently engaged in business in the Biobío Region, the former soccer player revealed that he still receives messages from fans of the ‘Caps’.
The Third Subthe Canadian soccer portal, chose the former Chilean player in 2020 as the “Best Designated Player” in the history of the Vancouver Whitecaps in the MLS.
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