SANDY, UTAH - Real Salt Lake has announced that midfielder Javier Morales was voted Major League Soccer's Player of the Week for Week 6 of the 2009 season earlier today by the North American Soccer Reporters. This marks the first time the 29-year-old Morales has received Player of the Week honor - or any League-wide accolade - since signing with Real Salt Lake on August 17, 2007.
After a scoreless first half on Saturday, Morales jumpstarted Real Salt Lake's offensive onslaught with assists on the club's first two goals. In the 53rd minute, Morales hooked a low, driven corner kick into the New England penalty area, where defender Jamison Olave connected with the ball and blasted a powerful header into the top right corner of the goal.
A Morales corner kick also led to Real Salt Lake's second goal only two minutes later. Bringing to fruition a plan hatched minutes earlier, the Argentine sent a driven out-swinger towards the far post that found an unmarked Clint Mathis at the edge of the six-yard box. Mathis crushed the pass with a powerful left-footed volley that bent perfectly into the upper left corner for what is certain to be an MLS Goal of the Year candidate by season's end.
The two assists were Morales' first and second of the season and jump-started RSL's six-goal second half outburst that tied the MLS record for most goals in a half, a feat that had been achieved only twice before in the League's 14-year history (Oct. 26, 2003, Columbus v. Chicago; Aug. 26, 2006, New York v. Real Salt Lake). This was the lone game of the three in which all six goals were scored by different players.
Morales, who hails from Buenos Aires, Argentina, had 15 assists in 2008, second only to MLS MVP Guillermo Barros Schelotto (19), a season-long effort that helped RSL to its first ever playoff berth last fall. Morales played for a trio of clubs - Lanús, Arsenal de Sarandí and Newell's Old Boys - in his native Argentina before signing with RSL from Spanish second division club Vecindario in the summer of 2007.
This marks the first MLS Player of the Week honor for a member of Real Salt Lake during the 2009 campaign, and the team's first such accolade since Morales' fellow Argentine countryman Fabian Espíndola earned the award during Week 23 last August. Morales is just the fifth different player in Real Salt Lake's now five-year history to earn the honor, joining Espíndola, Robbie Findley, Chris Klein, and five-time recipient Jeff Cunningham on the short list.
The Major League Soccer Player of the Week is selected each week of the MLS regular season by a panel of journalists from The North American Soccer Reporters (NASR). The group consists of members of print, television, radio and online media. More information and membership information can be found at http://www.soccerreporters.com/.
2009 MLS Player of the Week Winners
Week 1: Fredy Montero (Seattle Sounders FC)
Week 2: Kasey Keller (Seattle Sounders FC)
Week 3: Conor Casey (Colorado Rapids)
Week 4: Donovan Ricketts (Los Angeles Galaxy)
Week 5: Josh Wolff (Kansas City Wizards)
Week 6: Javier Morales (Real Salt Lake)
