Rodrigo Mora · Biography

The first trophy of Rodrigo Nicanor Mora Núñez’s career came with the 2009 Clausura of the Uruguayan Primera División, won with Defensor Sporting. Born on 29 October 1987 in Rivera, a city on the border with Brazil, Mora was a 1.70-metre forward who played in Uruguay, Portugal, Argentina and Chile. The core of his career was spent at River Plate, with whom he won the Copa Libertadores in 2015 and 2018. A hip injury forced him to retire in January 2019.

Early years in Uruguay

He made his professional debut in 2007 with Juventud de Las Piedras, where he stayed until 2008. That year he joined Defensor Sporting in Montevideo. With the violet side he won the 2009 Clausura and the 2010 Apertura, and in between he spent a loan spell at Cerro, where he began scoring regularly. His form in the Uruguayan league opened the door to Europe: in 2011 he signed for Portuguese club Benfica.

Benfica and Peñarol

Playing time was scarce in Lisbon. Competition up front at Benfica limited him to a handful of matches without a goal, and in 2012 the club loaned him to Peñarol. Back in Montevideo he quickly regained a starring role. On 28 May 2012 he scored four times in a 7-1 win over Rampla Juniors, a performance that drew the attention of several clubs in the region. In the middle of that year Benfica loaned him out again, this time to River Plate with an option to buy.

Arrival at River Plate

Mora arrived in Núñez in 2012, the season River returned to the Argentine top flight after their spell in the second-tier Primera B Nacional. His first goal for the club came in a 3-3 draw with Newell’s Old Boys, and he also scored in a 2-2 Superclásico against Boca Juniors. He ended that first spell with seven league goals. River eventually secured his registration, but in the first half of 2014 they loaned him to Universidad de Chile. There he scored with a bicycle kick against Guaraní in the Copa Libertadores qualifying round. In mid-2014 he returned to River, who had just appointed Marcelo Gallardo as head coach.

Trophies under Gallardo

With Gallardo in charge, River won the 2014 Copa Sudamericana, and Mora was part of that squad. The 2015 Recopa Sudamericana, the Suruga Bank Championship and the 2015 Copa Libertadores followed. In that edition’s quarter-finals, on 27 May, he started the move for the opening goal of a 3-0 win over Cruzeiro in Belo Horizonte. In the semi-final first leg on 14 July 2015 he scored in a 2-0 win over Guaraní at the Monumental, breaking down the right and lifting the ball over the goalkeeper in the 72nd minute. River finished as runners-up at that year’s Club World Cup. In 2016 he added another Recopa Sudamericana and the Copa Argentina, and in 2017 the Supercopa Argentina. In February 2016 he had been granted Argentine citizenship.

The injury and the 2018 Libertadores

On 22 June 2017 he underwent hip surgery to restore blood flow to the head of the femur, an operation that kept him out of action for months. He returned in 2018 and opened the scoring in River’s first match of that year’s Libertadores, a 2-2 draw with Flamengo. River won the competition after beating Boca Juniors in the final played in Madrid in December 2018, giving Mora his second Copa Libertadores.

Retirement and amateur return

In January 2019, unable to regain fitness because of the hip injury, he announced his retirement. On 13 July 2019 River staged a farewell match for him at the Monumental, and that same year the Superliga Argentina gave him a career award. In September 2023 he returned to competition with Alas Argentinas of Bariloche in the Torneo Regional Federal Amateur, scoring twice on his debut. In September 2024 he signed for Juventud Unida of Gualeguaychú to play in the same tournament, and he was presented by the club in October 2024.