Morera Soto, Alejandro

Alejandro Morera Soto was born into the family of Juan Morera ^[1] and Eufemia Soto ^[2] . From an early age he fell in love with football, which he often skipped dinners to play ball ^[3] . In addition to Alejandro, the family had a second son - Carlos, also involved in football, and daughter Alicia, who loved basketball and racing ^[3] . The first team of Morera was the local club “ Alajuelens ”, where he made his debut at the age of 16 in a match with “ Gimnastika Espanyola ” ^[4] . Over the seasons, he spent 47 matches at the club and scored 49 goals ^[5] . Two years later, his friend José Luis Soler , the silver medalist of the Central American Games of 1921, who had connections in Cuba , suggested Alejandro to go where he could play for the Gallego club ^[6] . Morera Soto was needed by a team that went on a commercial tour of Peru ^[3] . After a year at the club, where he scored 21 goals in 19 meetings ^[5] , the striker returned to his homeland, where he again began to defend the colors of Alajuelens. In 1930, during a tour of Salvador , he scored 7 goals in one game, and then in the same meeting received a fracture of the tibia and lower leg ^[2] . In just 5 years, the player spent 144 matches in the club and scored 136 goals ^[5] .

In 1932, the Spanish merchant Juan Bernal Alonso invited Morera Soto to go with him to Europe , where he could play for the Valencia club. Alejandro sailed on a ship to the port of Barcelona , then to go to Valencia , but there he was "intercepted" by a compatriot and friend ^[4] , with whom he periodically corresponded, Ricardo Saprissa Aima, accompanied by the management of the Hispaniol club ^[1] . They persuaded the football player to stay in Barcelona, ​​placing him in the club hotel Chalet de Sarriya. He made his club debut in a match with Atletico Madrid ^[3] . Morera agreed with Espanyol for 125 pesetas a week, plus payment of food and laundry ^{[1] [4]} . But when the day came to conclude the contract, the footballer did not come. It turned out that he had already become a player in Barcelona , who “gave” the striker a salary of 700 pesetas a week ^[1] , plus an advance of 6 thousand pesetas and the promise that from September 1934, in the case of a good game of a football player, the salary will be increased to 1300 peset in a month ^[6] and he will be paid at the same time another 4 thousand ^[5] . The transfer amount amounted to 10 thousand pesetas ^[1] . He made his team debut on April 30 in a match with Tenerife ^[4] , and on May 5 he scored the first goal, hitting the goal of Athletic Bilbao ^[5] . In the first season, the player scored 10 goals for the club in nine meetings. A year later, he scored 41 goals in 43 matches. A year later, the player helped the club win the championship of Catalonia . In total for Barcelona, ​​the player spent 76 matches and scored 63 goals ^[7] . The statistics were later revised: the head of the Barcelona research center, Manuel Thomas Belenger, reported that Morera Soto scored 68 goals for Barca - 39 goals in friendly matches, 13 in the Spanish championship , 5 in the Spanish Cup and 11 in the championship Catalonia ^[8] .

In June 1935, Morera moved to Hercules ^[4] for 10 thousand pesetas. A Costa Rican was sold after his request from the leadership of the “blue garnet” to increase wages ^[6] . He performed there only one season. In the offseason, he, along with former Barcelona partner Elemer Berkesi and Mario Cabanes , at the invitation of Berkeshi, traveled by car to Hungary . The players were friends during their joint game in Barcelona, ​​for which they were nicknamed the Three Musketeers by the press ^[9] . During their journey in Spain, a civil war broke out . After that, they traveled around Europe for some time, first on the recommendation of clubs that did not want to risk players. And then simply not having the opportunity to return to Spain, where they had their belongings and money left in Spanish banks ^[4] . Morero hid the remaining money in a chest, which he later lost. Elemer and Alejandro even played several matches with the French Le Havre to support themselves. And Morera Soto, who was unable to return the money from the bank ^[4] , could pay a ticket to his homeland ^[3] .

On November 2, 1936, the ship on which Alejandro sailed arrived at the port of Limon ^[3] . The player continued to play football, again playing for the Alahuelens club, in which he played until 1947. He won three Costa Rican championships and two Country Cups with the team. And in 1939, Morera Soto even became the top scorer of the championship ^[7] . He spent 364 matches for the club and scored 312 goals ^[5] . In the same period, the player played for the national team , with which he won silver medals in 1938 at the games of Central America and the Caribbean . In total for the national team, he spent 6 matches and scored 7 goals ^[7] . The player spent the last match of his career on April 6, 1947 against the Deportivo Municipal club, speaking for Herediano , where he, by that time, had been working as a coach ^[4]

After completing a gaming career, Morera Soto went into agriculture, buying coffee plantations on Carrisal ^[2] . But business bankrupt the football player ^[6] . He then became a member of the Costa Rican Legislative Assembly , holding the post from 1958 to 1962. And from 1966 to 1970 he was the governor of the native province of Alajuela . July 20, 1966 the stadium of the club "Alajuelens" was named after the football player. He died at the age of 85 from cerebral arteriosclerosis and kidney infection ^[10] . In 2016, a statue of Morera Soto was discovered in the Park Palmares, opposite the San Rafael Hospital, the work of the sculptor Edgar Zunigi ^[11] .

Team

• Champion of Costa Rica : 1928, 1939, 1941, 1945
• Costa Rica Cup Winner: 1928, 1937, 1944
• Champion of Catalonia : 1934/1935

Personal

• Costa Rica's top scorer: 1939 (23 goals)

Morera Solo was married to Julite Pacheco Perez, daughter of a Colonel from Alajuela ^[6] . They had a daughter, Henny Morera, and five grandchildren. ^[2]

• Profile at bdfutbol.com