22 Facts About Fernando Morientes

Fernando Morientes Sanchez is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a striker, currently a manager.

Fernando Morientes played for a number of clubs during his career, including Real Madrid, Monaco, Liverpool and Valencia.

Fernando Morientes earned 11 major honours with the first club, including three Champions League trophies.

Fernando Morientes signed with Zaragoza in 1995, where he spent another two seasons, often being partnered up front by Dani, a Real Madrid youth graduate.

Fernando Morientes continued his scoring form scoring 18 league goals in only 25 starts, with six substitute appearances.

Fernando Morientes was cup-tied for the Champions League campaign, and did not feature in the victory against Milan in the final of the competition.

Fernando Morientes totalled 12 goals in 60 appearances, winning the 2005 UEFA Super Cup and playing on the losing side in the 2005 Football League Cup Final and the 2005 FIFA Club World Championship Final.

Fernando Morientes linked up well with David Villa and scored 12 goals in 24 games, and was team-top scorer in the Champions League with seven; his good form throughout the season earned him a recall to the national side.

Fernando Morientes was released from hospital in time for the final two matches of the season, but played no part in either.

Fernando Morientes's increasing age and the form of Villa and Juan Mata led to only a handful of appearances in the league; as they were ousted in the round of 32, he still finished as their top scorer in European competition at three goals in seven matches.

On 27 July 2009, Fernando Morientes agreed to a deal at France's Olympique de Marseille on a free transfer for one year, reuniting with former Monaco boss Didier Deschamps.

Fernando Morientes was released on 1 July 2010, by mutual consent.

Fernando Morientes started his career as manager with Huracan Valencia CF, taking charge of its youth academy.

In January 2015, at 38, Fernando Morientes returned to playing, signing with DAV Santa Ana in the Madrid regional championships.

Fernando Morientes was a reliable performer for the Spain national team since 1998, scoring a brace in the first five minutes of his debut against Sweden on 25 March and adding a further two in each of his next two games, against Northern Ireland and Bulgaria respectively.

Fernando Morientes ranked fourth on the Spanish all-time topscorer's list with 27 goals in 47 appearances, behind former Real Madrid teammate Raul, former Valencia teammate Villa and former Madrid captain Fernando Hierro, although his goals-to-games ratio was higher than Raul and Hierro.

Fernando Morientes netted five goals in the two FIFA World Cups he featured in, with two goals in 1998 and three in 2002.

Fernando Morientes was a surprise omission at UEFA Euro 2000, but played at Euro 2004 in Portugal, where he scored one of only two goals that the side could manage, in a subsequent group stage exit.

Fernando Morientes played for the nation during the 2006 World Cup qualifiers; however, due to his poor club form for Liverpool, he was not chosen by national team coach Luis Aragones in the final squad for the tournament, although he was part of an initial 31-man list.

Fernando Morientes scored his 27th goal for Spain in a Euro 2008 qualifier against Denmark on 24 March 2007.

Fernando Morientes was regarded one of the top strikers of his generation, forming a notable and highly successful partnership with Raul at Real Madrid.

Fernando Morientes was featured in the EA Sports' FIFA video game series: he was on the cover for the Spanish edition of FIFA 99, and appeared in FIFA Football 2005.