Néider Yesid Morantes Londoño[a] (born August 3, 1975), known as Neider Morantes, is a Colombian retired footballer.
Club career
Morantes made his professional debut with Atlético Nacional in 1994. In April 1997, he won his first title with Los Verdolagas, lifting the Copa Interamericana after beating Deportivo Saprissa. In 1998, he was part of the team that won the Copa Merconorte, defeating Deportivo Cali 4-1 on aggregate. Morantes scored the only goal of the second leg in the closing minutes of the match. Morantes was also a part of the team that won the 1999 league title.
For the 2000–01 season, he transferred to Atlante of the Liga MX, where he scored 2 goals in 25 appearances. He transferred in summer 2001 to Irapuato for one season. In 2002 he had a brief spell at Once Caldas, before returning to Atletico Nacional for the 2002–03 season.
After that he played the 2003 Clausura with Atlético Bucaramanga. The following year he transferred to Nacional's rivals, Independiente Medellín. During his time at El Poderoso, he was an integral part of the team that won the 2004 Apertura against crosstown rivals Nacional, which was also his first club as a professional footballer.
From 2006 to 2007 he rejoined Independiente Medellín. In 2008 he was signed by Envigado and became a legend there, making over 200 appearances and scoring over 60 goals in a six year spell which included many high points, like a participation in the 2012 Copa Sudamericana, the club's first ever qualification for an international tournament, and league playoff qualifications in 2009, 2011, and 2014; there were also low points like having to narrowly escape relegation in 2010, where Envigado defeated Deportivo Pasto on aggregate in the relegation playoff.
On 12 February 2015, América de Cali announced that Morantes had been signed for the upcoming Primera B season.[1] America had a good regular season and qualified for the playoffs at the #3 seed, but they were not able to qualify for the finals in their playoff group after finishing behind eventual champion Atlético Bucaramanga. In May 2016, Morantes announced his departure for the club, adding that he was "affected" by not being able to continue with the club; America was promoted to the top division a few months after his departure.[2][3] In 2016, he joined Boyaca Chico for the 2016 Finalizacion, where an injury forced him to only play four matches with the club, and he announced his retirement later that year at the age of 42.
In 2017, he revealed in an interview that he had planned to finish his career at Independiente Medellin or Envigado, clubs where he is seen as a legend, but a deal could not be finalized.[4]
