Oribe Peralta

Oribe Peralta Morones (born 12 January 1984) is a Mexican former professional footballer who played as a forward.

He is an Olympic gold medalist.

In 1998, when he was in high school, he made the official town team of La Partida to play against other Municipalities in Torreon.

He managed to join CESIFUT (Centro de Sinergia Futbolista) [Synergy Center of Football] after having recovered from a broken tibia and fibula which left him immobile for a year.

After months of recuperation, Peralta managed to get into Alacranes de Durango, a professional team in the Liga Premier de México and drew the attention of C.D. Guadalajara's head coach Oscar Ruggeri, who took him to Guadalajara for a trial.

He would then receive an invitation from Monarcas Morelia, where manager Rubén Omar Romano gave him a try out with the team in which he debuted.

Peralta began his professional career with Morelia in 2003.

A native of Torreón, Oribe Peralta made his league debut for Monarcas Morelia on 22 February 2003, coming in as a substitute in the second half of a league match against Club América, which ended in a 1–2 defeat.

Peralta then played his second match of his first season against Cruz Azul.

For the next two seasons Peralta did not see any action, and was transferred to León of the second division.

He later played for León and Monterrey in 2004 and 2006.

He made 33 appearances and scored ten goals, winning the Clausura tournament with the club in 2004.

After playing for León, Peralta joined Monterrey to play with them for the next two seasons.

Peralta made his debut for Monterrey against UANL in the second half as a substitute in the 2–6 defeat.

In his second match, he scored his first goal of his career in the first division after coming in as a substitute, scoring the second goal of the match against Cruz Azul, with Monterrey going on to win the match 3–0.

Peralta ended his first season with five goals in 22 matches and making it to the final.

Monterrey would go on to lose against UNAM.

Peralta then started his second season at the club as a substitute.

For the next four matches, he was used as a substitute until he made his second start against Puebla, scoring his second goal of the season.

He ended the season with four goals.

For the next two seasons, Peralta received less playing time, only managing to score two goals in 22 matches.

Peralta made his senior international debut in 2005, though he did not receive call-ups consistently until 2011, being one of the over-aged reinforcements who won the 2011 Pan American Games with the under-22 squad.

In 2005, Monterrey loaned Peralta to Guadalajara as a reinforcement for the 2005 Copa Libertadores tournament.

He only played in four matches and did not score any goals.

In 2006, Peralta moved to Santos Laguna.

He made his debut against Monterrey - his former club - scoring his first goal in his first start of the season.

Peralta ended the season with 9 goals in 17 matches and 7 assists.

Peralta was then sold to Santos Laguna, then loaned out to Chiapas in 2008.

After he returned from loan, Peralta was a mainstay with Santos Laguna for the next five years, playing in over 200 matches and scoring over 80 goals.

He was Santos Laguna's main striker and went on to score 82 goals in 225 games during his time with the club, as well as winning the Clausura 2008 and 2012 championships.

Peralta also helped Santos reach the finals of the CONCACAF Champions League on two occasions within two years.

In 2009, Peralta was loaned out on a one-year deal to Jaguares for the Clausura tournament.

He had a successful loan spell with Jaguares, scoring 12 goals in 35 appearances.

After his successful loan spell, Peralta returned to Santos Laguna in 2010.

He scored two goals in the gold medal match at the 2012 Olympic football tournament against Brazil, which was the first Olympic gold medal for Mexico in football.

He was also awarded the CONCACAF Player of the Year in 2013 for his excellent performance.

He also participated in the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup, Copa America Centenario, 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup, the 2014, and 2018 FIFA World Cup.

He retired from the national team following the 2018 World Cup.

Peralta was born in a small town of La Partida, near Torreón, Coahuila, to Miguel Ángel Peralta and Julieta Morones, and was the oldest of four brothers.

At the age of 13, Peralta joined his first football team Los Vagos from his home town.