The two-time World Cup-winning USWNT forward Alex Morgan has announced her retirement from football at the age of 35.
The San Diego Wave forward, who also helped her country win Olympic gold in 2012, won the Champions League with Lyon in 2017 and lifted national titles with both Portland Thorns and Western New York Flash, has said that her final match will be on 8 September at home to North Carolina Courage.
In a tearful video posted on social media, Morgan also revealed that she is pregnant with her second child, a situation she said was unexpected but made her feel overjoyed. She added that, by the start of 2024, she had already made up her mind about retiring this year.
Morgan was left off the US squad that won gold at the Paris Olympics under new coach Emma Hayes, a decision that effectively ended her international career.
Morgan has been one of the faces of the women’s game globally for most of her career, which has spanned three decades and saw her score a remarkable 123 senior international goals in 224 caps for the US.
“I’m going to get to the point quickly: I’m retiring,” Morgan said. “I have so much clarity about this decision and I’m so happy to be able to finally tell you. It has been a long time coming and this decision was not easy, but at the beginning of 2024, I felt in my heart and soul that this was the last season.
“Soccer has been a part of me for 30 years and it was one of the first things that I ever loved. I gave everything to this sport and what I got in return was more than I could have ever dreamed of.”
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Morgan, whose career has also included spells at clubs including Tottenham and Orlando Pride, is a two-time finalist in the Fifa Best awards and won the NWSL Golden Boot in 2022. At the height of her powers she helped her country win back-to-back World Cups in 2015 and 2019, after also reaching the 2011 World Cup final. She gave birth for the first time in 2020 and returned to the national team five months later.
“[My daughter] Charlie came up to me the other day and said that when she grows up she wants to be a soccer player and it just made me immensely proud, not because I wish for her to become a soccer player when she grows up, but because a pathway exists that even a four-year-old can see now,” Morgan added. “We’re changing lives and the impact we have on the next generation is irreversible. I’m proud [of] the hand I had in making that happen.
“This is also not the retirement video I expected when I initially thought I was going to this, because Charlie is going to be a big sister. I am pregnant. And, as unexpected as this came, we are so overjoyed. To me, family means everything.
“I just want to thank the fans for always supporting us, for always using what we’re saying and making it magnified. I also need to thank my team behind the scenes, teammates, coaches, staff. Everyone who has played a part in my career has played some part in making me who I am today. I am shaped into me because of you, because of soccer. I am forever grateful.
“It’s been a vibe. Thank you.”
Source: theguardian.com
