Fernando Morientes

Fernando Morientes Sánchez (born April 5 1976 in Cáceres, Spain) is a footballer who plays for Valencia. He is married to Victoria and has two children, Fernandito and Lucía.

Career

Morientes began his top-flight career at Albacete in 1993, transferring to Real Zaragoza in 1995. He joined Real Madrid in the summer of 1997, and remained there for eight years, except for a brief spell on loan, where he helped AS Monaco reach the final of the 2004 Champions League. He was later nominated for the 2004 World Player Of The Year Award, although his position was disappointing. In 2004, Morientes was voted the best European striker of the year after finishing as the topscorer in the Champions League.

Morientes transferred to Liverpool in January 2005 for a fee of £6.3m, and made his debut for the club against rivals Manchester United and he scored his first Liverpool goal on February 1, 2005 against Charlton.

Morientes has been a regular for his national team since 1998, when he scored twice in the first five minutes of his debut against Sweden. He has played for Spain in the 1998 and 2002 World Cups, and in Euro 2004, although he was a shock omission from the Spanish squad at Euro 2000. As of June 22, 2006, Morientes is third on the Spanish all-time topscorer's list with 26 goals, behind former Real Madrid teammates Raúl (44 goals) and Fernando Hierro (29 goals).

Although Morientes came to Liverpool with a very good reputation, his transfer to Merseyside was followed by a large dip in form. He scored only 3 goals in the 2004/05 season. The start of the new season did not see a large improvement, although Morientes did score a few important goals and ended 2005 on a high note with a recall to the Spanish national team. However, his form did not fluctuate for the remainder of the season. He was not chosen by Spanish national team coach Luis Aragonés for the 2006 World Cup, although he was part of a 31-man initial squad named by Aragonés.

Fernando Morientes joined Valencia for a fee of £4.4m in May 2006 on a three-year deal after failing to impress at Anfield. He scored only 12 goals in 61 appearances for Liverpool.

Statistics

**Club Performance**
Club	Season	Premiership		FA Cup		League Cup		Europe		Others		Total
Club	Season	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals
Liverpool FC	2005-06	28	5	4	1	1		11	3	1		45	9
Liverpool FC	2004-05	13	3			2						15	3
Club	Season	Primera Div		Spanish Cup		-		Europe		Others		Total
Club	Season	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals
Real Madrid	2004-05	13		2	1	-	-	6	2			21	3
Club	Season	Ligue 1		French Cup		Ligue Cup		Europe		Others		Total
Club	Season	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals
Monaco Loan	2003-04	28	10	2	3			12	9			42	22
Club	Season	Primera Div		Spanish Cup		-		Europe		Others		Total
Club	Season	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals
Real Madrid	2003-04	1				-	-					1	0
	2002-03	18	5	2	1	-	-	7				27	6
	2001-02	33	18	5		-	-	11	3	2		51	21
	2000-01	22	6	1		-	-	8	4	1		32	10
	1999-00	29	12	?	?	-	-	14	6	3	1	46	19
	1998-99	33	19	?	6	-	-	5				38	25
	1997-98	33	12	?	?	-	-	10	4			43	16
Real Zaragoza	1996-97	37	15	?	?	-	-					37	15
Real Zaragoza	1995-96	29	13	?	?	-	-	5	2			34	15
Albacete	1994-95	20	5	?	?	-	-					20	5
Albacete	1993-94	2		?	?	-	-					2	0
Total		339	123	16	12	3	0	89	33	7	1	454	169