![\"Maxi](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2248132932.jpg\")
Maxi Moralez of New York City FC reacts after scoring the team\u2019s lone goal of its Eastern Conference semifinal victory against the Philadelphia Union on Sunday in Chester, Pa. Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be fair, players like Maxi make stuff very easy,\u201d NYCFC defender Tayvon Gray told The Post. \u201cHe\u2019s very good at guiding you through things. His experience speaks for itself, and he\u2019s been through it. Especially, he\u2019s been through it with me, so I can say he\u2019s amazing in that aspect. And for some reason, he has his best performances in playoffs. I swear, it\u2019s honestly amazing to see. I love that, though. Big players step up in big moments.\u201d<\/p>\n
Moralez had cemented himself in New York City FC lore even before his goal against the Union on Sunday night. <\/p>\n
He was a part of the squad that captured the franchise\u2019s first MLS Cup championship in 2021, has scored six career playoff goals and has tallied 29 goals with NYCFC since joining the club in 2017.<\/p>\n
On the same playing field, he has become an irreplaceable leader on a club that has an average age of 24.5.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot that goes on throughout the week since Day 1, and Maxi is a leading figure in that whole spectrum,\u201d head coach Pascal Jansen said about his leadership. \u201cYou can see he can translate a whole lot of things on the pitch. Obviously, we also have our conversations off the pitch, as well, but he is one of the main characters.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s in a good place at the moment. He is very important on and off the field, but don\u2019t forget all the other guys behind the scenes because there\u2019s a lot of them that take their responsibility, and Maxi is one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Moralez has taken his leadership role with the club head-on and described the kind words from his teammates as something that \u201cfills me with gratitude.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"New](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/10-new-york-city-teammates-116124582.jpg\")
Maxi Moralez #10 of New York City and teammates celebrate after winning and advancing to the final following the Conference Semifinal match between Philadelphia Union and New York City FC as part of the 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very difficult to leave a mark in this environment,\u201d Moralez told The Post. \u201cToday, I get to be here helping the younger players because of my age and experience. And then, when people recognize that, it\u2019s always nice. Really, it\u2019s what remains after football \u2014 leaving a legacy and making sure people remember you in a positive light.\u201d<\/p>\n
Moralez will not have an issue with being remembered in a \u201cpositive light\u201d by his teammates and the fans, some of whom took to social media this week to create photoshopped images of a statue of the Argentine outside NYCFC\u2019s new home in Willets Point.<\/p>\n
At 38, Moralez\u2019s time in MLS is closer to the end than the beginning. Speculation has gone on for much of the 2025 season that it could be his last.<\/p>\n
Moralez has not said when he would retire but said Thursday that he was feeling \u201cgood physically at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll see what happens after the last match, but the idea is to see if it\u2019s possible to continue and obviously keep growing in every aspect for the day when the time comes to leave,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
That next match will see New York City FC face Inter Miami for a chance to catapult the club to its second MLS Cup Final in four seasons, with the opposing side led by the other Argentine in Major League Soccer, Lionel Messi.<\/p>\n
Moralez called the upcoming match \u201ceverything\u201d for the club.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a trophy at stake [if we win], which will obviously be very difficult because we\u2019re playing against one of the best teams,\u201d he said. \u201cOne that has the best player in history. It\u2019s always exciting. Honestly, we\u2019re going to face the best, and to win it, you have to face them. So, really, it\u2019s a moment to enjoy responsibly, but also to enjoy it because you don\u2019t always reach a final. So when you\u2019re there, you enjoy it responsibly and, well, try to win it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Everyone knows the goaltending prowess of Matt Freese and the scoring ability of Alonso Martinez, but when it…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":410278,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,193014,6656,129740,405,403,29097,5226,5225,5228,5227,221,62,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-410277","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-maxi-moralez","10":"tag-mls","11":"tag-mls-playoffs","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-city","14":"tag-new-york-city-fc","15":"tag-newyork","16":"tag-newyorkcity","17":"tag-ny","18":"tag-nyc","19":"tag-soccer","20":"tag-sports","21":"tag-united-states","22":"tag-united-states-of-america","23":"tag-unitedstates","24":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","25":"tag-us","26":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115626522532230604","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=410277"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410277\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/410278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=410277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=410277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=410277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}