Alex Morgan [EN]

Alexandra Morgan Carrasco (born Alexandra Patricia Morgan; July 2, 1989) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a striker. She is the captain of San Diego Wave FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the highest division of women's professional soccer in the United States, and the United States women's national soccer team. She co-captained the United States women's national soccer team with Carli Lloyd and Megan Rapinoe from 2018 to 2020.

Shortly after graduating early from the University of California, Berkeley, where she played for the California Golden Bears, Morgan was drafted number one overall in the 2011 WPS Draft by the Western New York Flash. There, she made her professional debut and helped the team win the league championship. Morgan, who was 22 at the time, was the youngest player on the national team at the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, where the team was runner-up. At the 2012 London Olympics, she scored the match-winning goal in the 123rd minute of the semi-final match against Canada. She finished 2012 with 28 goals and 21 assists, joining Mia Hamm as the only American woman to score 20 goals and provide 20 assists in the same calendar year and making her the sixth and youngest U.S. player to score 20 goals in a single season. She was subsequently named U.S. Soccer Female Athlete of the Year and was a FIFA World Player of the Year finalist. Morgan also helped the United States win their titles at the 2015 and 2019 FIFA Women's World Cups, where she was named to the Dream Team for both tournaments, while she won the Silver Boot in 2019.

In 2013, the inaugural season of the National Women's Soccer League, Morgan joined Portland Thorns FC and helped the team win the league title that year. Morgan played for the Thorns through the 2015 season, after which she was traded to first-year franchise Orlando Pride. In 2017, Morgan signed with French team Lyon, where she won the continental European treble, which included the UEFA Women's Champions League.

Off the field, Morgan teamed with Simon & Schuster to write a middle-grade book series about four soccer players: The Kicks. The first book in the series, Saving the Team, debuted at number seven on The New York Times Best Seller list in May 2013. Additionally, a film starring Morgan in her acting debut, Alex & Me, was released in June 2018 where she plays a fictionalized version of herself.

In 2015, Morgan was ranked by Time as the top-paid American women's soccer player, largely due to her numerous endorsement deals. Morgan, along with Canada's Christine Sinclair and Australia's Steph Catley, became the first women's soccer players to appear on the cover of FIFA video games in 2015 – Morgan appeared alongside Lionel Messi on covers of FIFA 16 sold in the United States. She was named one of Time's 100 Most Influential People of 2019 and 2022.

Born to Pamela and Michael Morgan in the Los Angeles County suburb of San Dimas, California, Morgan was raised with her two older sisters, Jeni and Jeri, in the nearby suburb of Diamond Bar. She was a multi-sport athlete growing up and began playing soccer at an early age with AYSO, and her father was among her first coaches. However, she did not begin playing club soccer until age 14 when she joined Cypress Elite. With the club team, she won the Coast Soccer League (CSL) under-16 championship and placed third at the under-19 level.

Morgan attended Diamond Bar High School, where she was a three-time all-league pick and was named All-American by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA). At the school, she was known for her speed and sprinting ability. Morgan played for Olympic Development Program (ODP) regional and state teams as well. She later credited the program as an integral part of her development as a soccer player: "... programs like ODP helped me especially because I did come into the club scene late and it was important for me to play as much as possible, play with the best players and learn from the best coaches. That, for me, was crucial to my development."

In 2006 at age 17, Morgan was called up to the United States under-20 women's national soccer team. While playing in a scrimmage against the men's junior national team, she sustained an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury and did not play for the team again until April 2008.

Morgan attended University of California, Berkeley, where she played for the California Golden Bears from 2007 to 2010.[23] She led the Cal Bears in scoring during her first season with the team. During a match against Stanford in the second round of the 2007 NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship, Morgan scored an equalizer with less than two minutes left in regulation time, resulting in a 1–1 draw. The team was ultimately defeated during penalty kicks. Despite continued absences due to U.S. national team commitments throughout her collegiate career, Morgan led Cal in scoring and helped the team reach the NCAA Tournament four years in a row, advancing to the second round twice.

After being named a candidate for the Hermann Trophy during her junior year, Morgan became the first Golden Bear to be one of the top three finalists for the award. She was one of four finalists for the Honda Sports Award, given to the best overall candidate in each sport.

Morgan finished her collegiate career ranked third all-time in goals scored (45) and points (106) for Cal. She graduated from Berkeley one semester early, with a degree in Political Economy.

On January 14, 2011, Morgan was the first overall pick in the 2011 WPS Draft by the Western New York Flash. She was the first Cal player to be drafted in the first round of Women's Professional Soccer (WPS). Morgan scored her first goal for the Flash during the team's home opener—a 3–0 win over the Atlanta Beat on May 1, 2011. Throughout the 2011 season, she played in 14 matches and scored four goals. The club won the regular season title and the WPS Championship title the same year.

After the WPS later suspended operations in early 2012 due to legal and financial difficulties, Morgan joined her national teammates Hope Solo, Sydney Leroux, Megan Rapinoe and Stephanie Cox on the Seattle Sounders Women for the 2012 season. Of her signing, Morgan said, "I am excited to play in a city that is so passionate about soccer. The Sounders have been one of, if not the best fan support in MLS. I can only imagine how Seattle fans would respond to having a full professional women's team in the future."

Due to her national team commitments and preparation for the 2012 Summer Olympics, Morgan made three regular season appearances for the club. She scored two goals and served two assist in her 253 minutes on the pitch. With the national teammates' presence on the team, the Sounders sold out nine of their ten home matches at the 4,500 capacity Starfire Stadium. Average attendance during the 2012 season for the Sounders Women was four times higher than the next closest team.

On January 11, 2013, Morgan was one of three U.S. national team players to join the Portland Thorns FC for the inaugural season of the National Women's Soccer League via the NWSL Player Allocation. She scored her first goal for the Thorns during the team's home-opener at Jeld-Wen Field in front of 16,479 spectators helping her team defeat the Seattle Reign FC 2–1. She finished the regular season as the team's point leader, and joint scoring leader (with Christine Sinclair), with eight goals and five assists (21 points). The club finished third during the regular season led by head coach Cindy Parlow Cone. On August 31, 2013, Portland captured the league's inaugural championship title after defeating regular season champions Western New York Flash 2–0; Morgan assisted on the second goal. Morgan was named to the NWSL Second XI on August 28.

Morgan returned to the Thorns for the 2014 season led by new head coach Paul Riley. She scored six goals in her 15 appearances for the club. The Thorns finished third during the regular season with a 10–8–6 record and advanced to the playoffs for the second consecutive season. The team was defeated by eventual champions FC Kansas City 2–0.

During the 2015 season, Morgan made four appearances for the Thorns due to her national team commitments at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup. She scored one goal during a 3–3 draw against the Washington Spirit on August 31. The Thorns finished in sixth place during the regular season with a 6–9–5 record.

On October 26, 2015, it was announced that the Thorns had traded Morgan, along with teammate Kaylyn Kyle, to an expansion team Orlando Pride in exchange for the Pride's number one picks in the 2015 NWSL Expansion Draft and 2016 NWSL College Draft as well as an international roster spot for the 2016 and 2017 seasons. Morgan scored four goals in her 15 appearances for the Pride. The club finished in ninth place during the regular season with a 6–13–1 record led by head coach Tom Sermanni.

On January 5, 2017, Morgan signed with French champions Olympique Lyonnais (Lyon) for a reported $33,000 per month. The six-month contract included a mutual option for an additional season.

She made her 2016–17 Division 1 Féminine debut on January 14 during a 3–0 win against En Avant de Guingamp and recorded two assists. During a match against ASPTT Albi on March 17, she scored a brace in the second half to help lift the team to a 5–0 win. On May 7, she scored a brace during the team's 9–0 win over ASJ Soyaux after which the club was named league champions for the ninth consecutive season. She scored five goals in her eight appearances during the regular season.

On March 12, Morgan scored a hat-trick against Rodez to lead Lyon to a 6–0 win and advance to the semi-finals of the French Cup. She scored four goals and recorded two assists during the semi-final against Hénin-Beaumont (three of the four occurred within a ten-minute span). Lyon won the Cup after a penalty shootout on May 19. Morgan did not play during the French Cup final due to a lingering hamstring injury suffered during a match against Paris Saint-Germain.

Morgan made her 2016–17 UEFA Women's Champions League debut in the first leg of the quarterfinals on March 23 during the team's 2–0 win over VfL Wolfsburg. On June 1, she started in the 2017 UEFA Women's Champions League Final but subbed off after 23 minutes due to the hamstring injury. Lyon won the match after a penalty shootout.

Following the Champions League Final, the Pride announced Morgan's addition to their 2017 active roster on June 21, 2017, waiving Christina Burkenroad to make room on the 20-player roster. After recovering from the hamstring injury she suffered in the final, Morgan made her competitive return for Orlando on July 1 against the Chicago Red Stars. Morgan scored nine goals in fourteen games for Orlando in 2017, and the team achieved an 11–6–7 record. On October 7, Morgan played the entirety of the Pride's first ever NWSL playoff match, a 4–1 loss to the eventual champions Portland Thorns FC. Following the season's end, Morgan was named to the league's 2017 Second XI.

Although her contract with Lyon included an option for a return in 2018, Morgan announced in September 2017 that she would terminate the contract and instead return to Orlando for the start of the] 2018 season. The team failed to match the success of its 2017 campaign, finishing seventh out of nine teams in the league with a record of 8–10–6. Morgan played in nineteen games for the Pride, contributing five goals over the course of the season.

Morgan spent most of the 2019 season on international duty, including the World Cup, before ending the season injured. She only featured in six games for Orlando and failed to score, the first time she ended a Pride season scoreless.

In October 2019 she announced she was pregnant, eventually giving birth in May 2020. Morgan missed the early-summer 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup tournament held following the disruption of the season caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. She returned to training with the Pride in early September ahead of the Fall Series, the September–October slate of games scheduled for the end of the season.

On September 12, 2020, Morgan signed with English FA Women's Super League team Tottenham Hotspur. The contract reportedly ran from September through December 2020, with an option to extend the deal through the end of the 2020–21 FA WSL season in May 2021. Orlando retained Morgan's NWSL rights. Still trying to regain fitness having not played since August 2019 and giving birth in May 2020, Morgan eventually made her Spurs debut on November 7, 2020, appearing as a 69th-minute substitute in a 1–1 WSL draw against Reading. On November 14 she made her first start for Spurs, playing 45 minutes in a 2–2 draw with Bristol City before being substituted at half-time. In her third appearance Morgan played against North London rivals Arsenal in the League Cup group stage, substituting on at half-time. The match finished in a 2–2 tie and a penalty shootout with Morgan the only player to not convert, instead firing the decisive penalty over the crossbar in a 5–4 defeat. She scored her first goal for the club on December 6, 2020, an 84th-minute penalty in a 3–1 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion, Spurs' first league win of the season. The following week, Morgan scored her second penalty in as many games as Spurs beat Aston Villa 3–1. On December 21, Tottenham Hotspur announced that Morgan would end her contract with the club and return to the United States.

Morgan returned to Orlando Pride ahead of the 2021 season. Having missed the start of the 2021 NWSL Challenge Cup while on international duty to play in friendlies against Sweden and France, Morgan made her first appearance for Orlando since August 2019 on April 21, 2021, in a 1–0 Challenge Cup win over Washington Spirit, a total of 609 days. She registered an assist on the only goal of the game, scored by Sydney Leroux. Morgan scored in each of the first four games of the regular season as Orlando went unbeaten and finished May at the top of the table. It was the first time a player had scored in each of the first four games of a season in league history. She was named NWSL Player of the Month for only the second time in her career in May 2021.

On December 13, 2021, San Diego Wave FC announced the signing of Morgan. The terms of the trade were revealed three days later following the opening of the trade window with Orlando receiving a record $275,000 in Allocation Money and Angharad James in return. Morgan scored the winning goal in the 2024 Challenge Cup, making it 1–0 in the 88th minute, the first time San Diego Wave has won this cup.