Copyright The Philadelphia Inquirer
In the mind’s eye, October 2010 might still feel recent. But there are a few ways to measure how long it has really been since Alex Morgan scored her first U.S. women’s soccer team goal. One is that back then, the future superstar was in college at the University of California. She was a senior set to graduate a semester early, but she still wasn’t a pro yet when she took the field at what then was called PPL Park. The other is that her historic night in Chester had just 2,505 witnesses in the stands. That was partially because the Phillies had a home playoff game that evening, one that turned out to be Roy Halladay’s no-hitter. But it was also nine months before the moment that sparked a new boom of interest in women’s soccer that has carried into the present: Megan Rapinoe’s legendary cross for Abby Wambach’s goal in the 2011 World Cup quarterfinals. Before all that — before two World Cup titles, an Olympic gold, two U.S. league titles, a Champions League title in Europe, and so much more — there was this moment. And before Morgan grew her girl-next-door personality into a hammer that pounded soccer’s old guard, a 21-year-old entered a game as a substitute with her team down, 1-0. » READ MORE: A look at who's coming to town this week to play for the USWNT “It was a really tense night before that goal,” Morgan told The Inquirer ahead of her national team retirement ceremony, Thursday at the U.S.-Portugal game at Subaru Park (7 p.m., TNT, Peacock). “We had a really long unbeaten streak on home soil, and so coming in in that moment and being called upon, it was like, ‘OK, are you sure you’re calling upon me?’” Just over 10 minutes after Morgan took the field, Heather Mitts hit a long ball forward from the midfield line. Wambach was first to it, knocked it down, and two bounces later, Morgan thumped it in the net. “It was a big sigh of relief,” Morgan said, “and it was a great moment that I’ll always remember.” She also remembered the small crowd. That was a fairly common sight back then, with the glow of the 1999 era long faded. The U.S.’s 2008 Olympic gold, led by Carli Lloyd, briefly rekindled the flame, but there was no top-level domestic league in this country from 2004 to 2008. » READ MORE: The U.S. launches a continent-wide bid for the 2031 women’s World Cup, and Philadelphia wants in In June 2011, Morgan, Lloyd, and company played their World Cup send-off game at the former Red Bull Arena (now Sports Illustrated Stadium) in North Jersey before a crowd of 5,852. Six weeks later, their world changed forever. “We come back [after] we lose in the final, and all of a sudden everyone’s paying attention more,” Morgan said. “We gain momentum, we win an Olympics in 2012, and in that final in 2012, we have 80,000 people watching at Wembley [Stadium] in London. … Everything kind of turned, all in that moment.” For over a decade, Morgan was the star of stars. But time comes for every athlete, and after the Olympics in 2021, it started to for her. Then-U.S. manager Vlatko Andonovski started to bring in the next generation, and Morgan did not play for the national team from that October until June 2022. She was recalled for Concacaf’s World Cup and Olympic qualifying tournament, as the national team faced many injuries and she was on a tear in the NWSL. But she insisted on taking nothing for granted. » READ MORE: The U.S. women haven't played in the Philly area for 3 1/2 years On the eve of the tournament, she spoke with The Inquirer in an interview that remains memorable to this day. “I’m here to continue to make a name for myself on this team, get back into the squad definitively, and help this team,” she said at one point. At another point, she said: “Not being here in the last eight months, I have to bring it back to the basics.” Why would a player of her talent and pedigree believe that? The answer was obvious. When that’s how the superstar acts, everyone else follows. » READ MORE: USWNT star Tierna Davidson visits Kensington to inspire a new generation of young soccer players And whenever a national team player is seen as not fully bringing it — whether on the women’s or men’s side — those words return to life. If Alex Morgan was that way, they should be, too. As she spoke now, she again summoned the weight of the crest she wore 224 times. “I never took playing for the national team for granted,” she said. “I knew that one day you could be there, and the next day you won’t, if you don’t continue to make a case for yourself. I think that was really the mentality that the previous generation — Abby, Shannon Boxx, Christie Rampone — set in stone for this team, and maybe it was the previous generation that also instilled that in them.” » READ MORE: Women’s soccer teaches the WNBA a history lesson about when CBA talks go wrong Morgan knew she was perceived — and still is — as the golden girl, attractive to marketers for more reasons than just her skills. But people in the soccer world who know her well knew she put in the work. “For me it was like, you don’t walk into this team and wear this jersey with the assumption that you deserve to be there day in and day out without working for it, sunup to sundown,” she said. “A lot of people think with me it was an easy ride, and I was a real shoo-in on the team for 13, 14, 15 years, and that’s just not the case. I fought to be there every single day.” And though she has given countless interviews in her career, she had not forgotten that one from 2022, and the circumstances that surrounded it. “I had injuries, and I was out on maternity leave, and I needed a break after grinding and having my daughter, and this is exactly when we talked,” she said. “[I] was being omitted from the team for a certain amount of months because I needed a little bit of an extra break because I hadn’t stopped since having my daughter.” » READ MORE: The NWSL’s top rookie scorer this year is from Voorhees When Andonovski expressed his displeasure, Morgan was ready. “I said, ‘This is how you’re going to get the best out of me, is if I take this break,’” she said. “I’m glad I’d made that decision at the time, but I had to grind to get back into it.” She was ready for that, too. “That mentality is not one that I created on my own,” Morgan said. “It’s one that this team had from the very start, from the very first time that I entered into the team: one of not making assumptions, and one of working for everything that we earned, and knowing that we can never take anything for granted. I hope that players now continue to live by that — certainly, certainly I did.” » READ MORE: The USWNT has not just a new era of players, but a new era of leaders And so, on cue, to the present generation of players whom Morgan will watch from the stands on Thursday. Some of Morgan’s teammates are still going, surrounded by a fleet of young risers aiming for the 2027 World Cup. “To be there and to be able to see the players and kind of be in that environment for a little bit is really fun and nostalgic,” Morgan said. “But I think that this team is in a really good place. You want to be in this place where you’re giving players chances a couple of years before you kind of narrow in on that core group when it comes to the World Cup year.” They likely will be on display at Subaru Park: 18-year-old Lily Yohannes, 19-year-old Claire Hutton, 20-year-olds Olivia Moultrie, Jaedyn Shaw, and Alyssa Thompson — the last two of whom already have major tournament experience. “There’s a lot of young players that already have incredibly valuable experience, with either the previous World Cup or Olympics,” Morgan said. “There’s also a lot of opportunity to become leaders on this team. … I feel like all these younger players are making names for themselves, and, yeah, I’m really excited to see [them]." Just as they will be excited to see her, the one who set the bar they all want to reach.
