Tarek Morad

Tarek Morad
Morad playing for Louisville City in 2017
Personal information
Date of birth (1992-08-21) August 21, 1992 (age 34)
Place of birth Los Angeles, California, United States
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Positions
Youth career
2004–2010 Arsenal FC (California)
2006–2010 Chino Hills High School
2013 Chivas USA
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010 Mt. SAC 18 (0)
2011–13 UC Irvine 61 (3)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014 OKC Energy FC 16 (0)
2015–17 Louisville City FC 72 (4)
2018 Arab Contractors 0 (0)
2018–19 Tampa Bay Rowdies 46 (0)
2020 San Diego Loyal SC 6 (0)
2021–23 Oakland Roots SC 71 (2)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Tarek Morad (Arabic: طارق مراد; born August 21, 1992) is an American professional soccer player who last played for Oakland Roots in the USL Championship.

Early life

Personal

Tarek was born in Los Angeles, California and raised in Chino Hills, California to Egyptian parents and has two older brothers. He attended Chino Hills High School where he would twice win the Sierra League and be named the Sierra League MVP as a Junior.

College and Youth

Morad was to originally play college soccer at UC Riverside as a midfielder but his scholarship offer was rescinded. Instead he enrolled at Mt. San Antonio College in 2010. While at Mt. San Antonio he led the Mounties to the South Coast Conference Title as well the California Junior College State Championship. He was also named to the All-Conference team.

In 2011, Morad transferred to UC Irvine where he would be converted to a defender. He would play in 61 matches and score three goals during his time there. During his senior year UC Irvine would win the Big West Conference title, the Big West Tournament title, and would make it to the sweet-16 of the NCAA Tournament; a school record.

In 2013, Morad also played with the Chivas USA U23 team. Chivas would finish the year unbeaten on their way to the Coast Soccer League Championship where Morad would score the final goal of Championship match.

Club career

OKC Energy FC

2014 season

Morad went undrafted in the 2014 MLS SuperDraft and after a month-long trial with Seattle Sounders FC signed with United Soccer League affiliate and expansion side OKC Energy FC on February 27. He would appear in 16 of Oklahoma's 28 regular season matches.

Louisville City FC

2015 season

On February 19 Morad signed with another USL expansion team; Louisville City FC. He made his debut on March 28 against Saint Louis on the season-opener and appear in 26 of Louisville's 28 regular season matches scoring 2 goals. The team’s impressive first year in the USL ended with a playoff loss to the Rochester Rhinos in the eastern conference final after finishing 2nd in the league.

2016 season

Morad would play in 20 of Louisville's 30 regular season matches and make his season debut on April 2 against Orlando City B. He scored his lone goal on June 21 against Toronto and would also contribute 2 assists. He played in one of Louisville's US Open Cup matches as well as all three of Louisville's USL Cup matches before the team fell to the New York Redbulls II in penalty kicks in the eastern conference final.

2017 season

Morad would play in 26 of Louisville's 32 regular season matches and make his season debut on March 25 against Saint Louis. He also played in both of Louisville's US Open Cup matches as well as all four of Louisville's USL Cup matches. He scored his lone goal of the regular season in the final match against Richmond off the rebounded his own missed penalty kick. This goal made him the 17th and final outfield player to score for Louisville during the season; the entire outfield roster. He would also score a brace in the first half of Louisville's opening USL Cup Quarterfinal match against Bethlehem. Morad and Louisville would go on to win the Eastern Conference Final against the former champions, New York Redbulls II, as well as the USL Cup against Swope Park Rangers.

Morad did not re-sign with Louisville after the season. He left Louisville as their all-time leader in both league and overall appearances with 75 and 88 appearances respectively, a regularly featured starter for the champions during his time with the club.

Tampa Bay Rowdies

2018 season

On August 8 Morad signed with the Tampa Bay Rowdies of the USL after leaving his club in Egypt, the Arab Contractors. He made his Tampa debut the next day, helping the Rowdies earn a clean sheet against Charleston. Morad featured in each of the Rowdies final regular season matches where the club coming up short on playoff qualification.

2019 season

The 2019 season saw Morad become a crucial player for the Tampa Bay Rowdies, making 34 appearances as his team finished 5th in the Eastern Conference, before losing the Conference Quarter Final 2–1 to his old team Louisville City on October 27, 2019. On November 19, 2019, Morad announced on his Twitter account that he was leaving the Tampa Bay Rowdies.

San Diego Loyal SC

2020 season

After having a trial cut short in early 2020 at Irish Premier League side, St. Patrick’s Athletic, due to Covid-19, Morad joined USL Championship side San Diego Loyal on August 28, 2020. Morad featured as a starter in each of Landon Donovan’s side’s remaining matches of the 2020 regular season. With the club poised to make a playoff position on the final match against the league leaders, Phoenix Rising FC, the Loyal forfeited the match at halftime despite leading 3-1 after a San Diego player was called a homophobic slur. Morad did not re-sign with the Loyal after the 2020 season.

Oakland Roots

On December 21, 2020, it was announced that Morad would join USL Championship side Oakland Roots ahead of their inaugural season in the league. After three seasons with the Roots, he did not re-sign for the 2024 season and announced his retirement before the following season started, transitioning into a Club Ambassador role for the club.

Career statistics

Professional appearances – correct as of Dec 1, 2023.

Club Season League National Cup Playoffs Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Oklahoma City Energy 2014 USL Championship 16010—170
Louisville City 2015 2622020302
2016 2011030241
2017 2612042323
Tampa Bay Rowdies 2018 USL Championship 13000—130
2019 3301010350
San Diego Loyal 2020 USL Championship 6000—60
Oakland Roots SC 2021-2024 USL Championship 71 2 1 0 3 0 75 2
Career Total 2116801322328
  1. 1 2 3 4 Appearances in USL Cup

Honors

Louisville City FC

References

  1. ↑ Soltan, Mohamed (November 25, 2017). "Tarek Morad: Champion emerging from the shadow". www.egypttoday.com. Cairo, Egypt: Egypt Today. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
  2. ↑ "Tarek Morad". www.mlssoccer.com. MLS. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
  3. 1 2 Milby, jeff (February 20, 2015). "Louisville City Update: LCFC Signs Two More, Announces Preseason Slate". The Mane Land. Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
  4. 1 2 3 Meeker, Randy (January 24, 2014). "Trialist: Tarek Morad". www.sounderatheart.com. Sound at Heart. Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
  5. ↑ Brannick, Chris (April 25, 2014). "Oklahoma City Energy FC: Breaking down the 2014 Energy FC roster". newsok.com. Oklahoma City, OK: The Oklahoman. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
  6. ↑ Lintner, Jonathan (February 19, 2015). "Louisville City FC adds two more to roster". www.courier-journal.com. Louisville, KY: Courier Journal. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
  7. ↑ Lerner, Danielle (June 21, 2016). "Abend nets two as LouCity knocks out Toronto". www.courier-journal.com. Louisville, KY: Courier Journal. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
  8. ↑ "Tarek Morad". www.louisvillecityfc.com. Louisville City FC. Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
  9. 1 2 Murray, Nicholas (October 21, 2017). "Hard Work Pays Off for Louisville's Morad". www.uslsoccer.com. Louisville, KY: USL. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
  10. 1 2 Murray, Nicholas (November 14, 2017). "Louisville's Late Winner Claims USL Cup Victory". www.uslsoccer.com. Louisville, KY: USL. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
  11. ↑ Loucity (November 17, 2017). "Louisville City FC announces Roser Changes". Louisville City Fc. Louisville, KY: LCFC. Archived from the original on December 8, 2017. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  12. ↑ "Rowdies Sign 2017 USL Cup Champion Tarek Morad". Tampa Bay Rowdies. St. Petersburg, FL. August 8, 2018. Archived from the original on August 19, 2018. Retrieved August 19, 2018.
  13. ↑ Cardamone, Sarah (August 8, 2018). "Battery Earns Fourth Consecutive Clean Sheet in Draw with Rowdies". www.charlestonbattery.com. Charleston, SC: Charleston Battery. Archived from the original on August 20, 2018. Retrieved August 19, 2018.
  14. ↑ "USA - T. Morad - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". ie.soccerway.com.
  15. ↑ "Summary - USL Championship - USA - Results, fixtures, tables and news - Soccerway".
  16. ↑ "Tampa Bay Rowdies eliminated from USL Championship playoffs". Tampa Bay Times.
  17. ↑ @TarekMMorad (November 19, 2019). "Thank you, @tampabayrowdies, for the opportunity. Thank you to the fans for your support all year. Thank you to all…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  18. ↑ Loyal, San Diego (September 1, 2020). "SD Loyal Signs Trio of Players Through 2020 Season". San Diego Loyal SC.
  19. ↑ "Oakland Roots SC Bolsters Back Line with Tarek Morad". December 21, 2020.
  20. ↑ Oakland Roots Sports Club Provide 2024 Roster Updates
  21. ↑ "USA – T.Morad". ie.soccerway.com. Retrieved January 27, 2020.