Floridian Rookies Series: Santiago Morales
With multiple international options, Santi has started his professional career in the Sunshine State
Born: February 9, 2007
Current Team: Inter Miami CF
Connection to Florida: moving to Florida in 2019, he has progressed through the Inter Miami academy to their first team
This column has previously discussed players with professional athlete fathers. However, Santiago Morales didn’t just grow up with a former pro for a dad. Indeed, his father Javier Morales was a Major League Soccer legend for Real Salt Lake. Now trying to forge his own path, the younger Morales can take lessons both from his parents and his current teammates to become a star in his own right.
Santiago Morales was born in Spain during his father’s year-long stint in the Segunda División. Following relegation, the older Morales moved to Utah to play in Major League Soccer. He stayed for almost ten years at RSL before finishing his career with FC Dallas, also in MLS. His son took all of this in stride, playing for the Dallas academy when Javier moved into coaching. Upon taking up a similar role with Inter Miami, Santiago joined as well, excelling for the academy side. He was named the tournament MVP as Inter won the 2022 U15 MLS Next Cup.
The year 2023 was to be a big one in Morales’s young career. After making his professional debut with Inter Miami II in MLS Next Pro, the reserve league for MLS proper, “Santi” was signed to a full contract with the senior team. He would rack up the goals and assists as time went by, getting closer and closer to a first team debut. This January, he played in a friendly match alongside Lionel Messi and co. against Club America. He was even tasked with taking one of the penalties to decide the game, making it 3-2 to cement the victory.
In MLS competition, he finally saw the field for the first time in March, coming on as a late substitute in a 4-1 win over Houston away in Texas. While Messi wasn’t available that day, Morales has been training with one of his idols nearly daily. With Argentine lineage, it would be hard to avoid the influence of Leo even if they weren’t teammates. Santi described the Inter Miami #10 as, “the best in history, he is unique,” also noting Andres Iniesta was the person on whom his game is modeled. He said he admired in particular those players who came from the Canary Islands where he was born, including current Argentinian international Nico Paz and Pedri, who plays for Spain and Barcelona.
In that same interview, Morales was asked which national team he wanted to represent in the future. He stated with usual calmness, “right now, I don’t have to choose, because only the United States has given me the chance. I am and I feel Argentine, but I was raised in this country which gave me many things.” His next steps are to make it to the first team like Benja Cremaschi, another Argentinian-American at Inter. “There is the example of Benjamin, who played with me in the academy… That speaks well of the club and the opportunities it provides.”