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Although her teammates rarely use it nowadays, Morgan was given the nickname "Baby Horse" by her teammates on the U.S. women's national team for her speed, running style and youth.<ref>{{cite news|url= http://www.ussoccer.com/News/Womens-National-Team/2013/04/Nicknames.aspx |publisher=US Soccer|title=What's In A Name?|date=April 4, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/london/soccer/story/2012-08-06/London-Olympics-soccer-US-Canada-Alex-Morgan-Hope-Solo/56828988/1|publisher=USA Today|title=Alex Morgan's goal beats Canada, puts U.S. in Olympic final|first=Robert|last=Klemko|date=August 6, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/london/soccer/story/2012-08-07/alex-morgan-chases-olympic-gold-in-london/56848488/1|publisher=USA Today|title=Alex Morgan arrives just in time for U.S. | first=Robert|last=Klemko|date=August 8, 2012}}</ref> She has expressed her support for [[FC Barcelona]].<ref>[http://www.fcbarcelona.com/club/detail/article/american-womens-soccer-star-alex-morgan-declares-support-for-barca American women’s soccer star Alex Morgan declares support for Barça|FC Barcelona]</ref>
Although her teammates rarely use it nowadays, Morgan was given the nickname "Baby Horse" by her teammates on the U.S. women's national team for her speed, running style and youth.<ref>{{cite news|url= http://www.ussoccer.com/News/Womens-National-Team/2013/04/Nicknames.aspx |publisher=US Soccer|title=What's In A Name?|date=April 4, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/london/soccer/story/2012-08-06/London-Olympics-soccer-US-Canada-Alex-Morgan-Hope-Solo/56828988/1|publisher=USA Today|title=Alex Morgan's goal beats Canada, puts U.S. in Olympic final|first=Robert|last=Klemko|date=August 6, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/london/soccer/story/2012-08-07/alex-morgan-chases-olympic-gold-in-london/56848488/1|publisher=USA Today|title=Alex Morgan arrives just in time for U.S. | first=Robert|last=Klemko|date=August 8, 2012}}</ref> She has expressed her support for [[FC Barcelona]].<ref>[http://www.fcbarcelona.com/club/detail/article/american-womens-soccer-star-alex-morgan-declares-support-for-barca American women’s soccer star Alex Morgan declares support for Barça|FC Barcelona]</ref>


CURRENTLY DATING UNIFORMED DIVISION LIEUTENANT ROBERT GIBSON==Honors==
==Honors==


===Club===
===Club===

Revision as of 16:54, 7 May 2013

Alex Morgan
Personal information
Full name Alexandra Patricia Morgan
Date of birth (1989-07-02) July 2, 1989 (age 35)
Place of birth Diamond Bar, California, United States
Height 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Position(s) Forward/Striker
Team information
Current team
 Portland Thorns FC
Number 13
Youth career
Cypress Elite
2004–2007 Diamond Bar High School
2007–2010 California Golden Bears
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008–2009 West Coast FC 2 (2)
2010 California Storm 3 (5)
2010 Pali Blues 3 (1)
2011 Western New York Flash 13 (4)
2012 Seattle Sounders Women 3 (2)
2013– Portland Thorns FC 4 (2)
International career‡
2008 United States U20 10 (5)
2010– United States 65 (42)
Medal record
Women's football
Representing the  United States
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2012 London Team competition
FIFA Women's World Cup
Silver medal – second place 2011 Germany Team competition
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of May 5, 2013
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of April 9, 2013

Alexandra Patricia "Alex" Morgan (born July 2, 1989) is an American soccer player and Olympic Gold medalist. She is a forward for National Women's Soccer League club Portland Thorns FC and the U.S. Women's National Team. Morgan was drafted number one overall in the 2011 WPS Draft by the Western New York Flash. She was the youngest player on the USA's roster at the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup. At the 2012 London Olympics, her game-winning goal in the 123rd minute against Canada was Morgan's team-high 20th in 2012, becoming only the sixth and youngest U.S. player to do so in a single year. In 2012, Morgan, the U.S. Soccer Female Athlete of the Year, had 28 goals and 21 assists joining an exclusive club as she and Mia Hamm are the only U.S. WNT players to record at least 20 goals and 20 assists in the same calendar year.

Early life and collegiate career

Morgan was born in Diamond Bar, California, the daughter of Pamela S. (née Jeske) and Michael T. Morgan.[1] She was a multisport athlete growing up, but did not begin playing club-team soccer until she was 14, several years later than most players who go on to reach the elite levels of the sport.[2] Within three years she was called into the U-17 and U-20 national team.[3][4] She attended Diamond Bar High School, where she was a three-time all-league pick and was named an NSCAA All-American.[5]

As a freshman at the University of California, Berkeley, Morgan was the leading scorer. Her last goal of her freshman season came against Stanford in the second round of the 2007 NCAA Tournament, tying the game at 1–1 with less than two minutes left in regulation time and forcing the Cardinal into overtime and then to penalty kicks. Despite continued absences due to U.S. national team commitments (2008 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup and then the senior team) throughout her collegiate career, she still led the team in scoring and to the NCAA Tournament in each of her four years, advancing to the second round twice.[4]

After being named a candidate for the Hermann Trophy Watch list in her junior year, Morgan became the first California player to ever be named one of the top-three Hermann Trophy finalists. She was also one of four finalists for the Honda Sports Award, given to the best overall candidate in each sport.[4]

Morgan is third all-time in goals scored (45) and points (107) for the Golden Bears.[6] She graduated from UC Berkeley one semester early, with a degree in Political Economy.

Club career

Western New York Flash

On January 14, 2011, Morgan was drafted number one overall in the 2011 WPS Draft by the Western New York Flash.[7] She was the first California Golden Bears women's soccer player to be drafted in the first round of Women's Professional Soccer. The club went on to win the regular season title and the WPS Championship title in 2011.[8]

Portland Thorns FC

On January 11, 2013, it was announced that Morgan was one of three USWNT players to join the Portland Thorns FC by way of weighted allocation.[9]

International career

Alex Morgan of the United States Women's National Soccer Team in Frisco, Texas

Due to an anterior cruciate ligament injury that slowed her progress in 2007, Morgan was not called up to train with the United States under-20 women's national soccer team until April 2008.[10] Her first appearance for the U-20s came at the 2008 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship in Puebla, Mexico, where she scored her first international goal against Cuba.[11]

Morgan was named to the United States U-20 women's national team that competed in the 2008 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Chile, scoring a total of four goals in the tournament against France, Argentina and North Korea. Morgan's fourth goal of the tournament was a match-winner that gave the U.S. a gold medal, which subsequently voted the best goal of the tournament,[12] and later FIFA's second-best goal of the year.[13] Morgan's performance on the field earned her the Bronze Shoe as the tournament's third-highest scorer and the Silver Ball as the tournament's second-best player behind teammate Sydney Leroux.[14]

She has been capped by the senior national team, first appearing as a substitute in a match versus Mexico in March 2010,[15] and scored her first international goal after coming on as a substitute against China, which salvaged a 1–1 draw in October 2010. Her most important goal to date came a month later in a crucial road game against Italy. After entering the match in the 86th minute, she scored in the fourth minute of added time to give the United States a 1–0 victory over Italy in the first leg of a playoff to qualify for the final spot for the Women's World Cup.[16]

2011 FIFA Women's World Cup

Morgan was the youngest player on the U.S. national team that placed second in the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup. On July 13, 2011, she scored her first FIFA Women's World Cup goal in the 82nd minute of the semi-final matchup against France, giving the USA a 3–1 lead and ultimately, the victory. She scored the first goal (69') in the FIFA World Cup Final against Japan after coming on as a substitute at the half, as well as assisting on the Abby Wambach header (104') for a goal in extra time. Her performance made her the first player to ever record a goal and an assist in a World Cup final.[17] Morgan finished eighth in the balloting for the 2011 FIFA World Player of the Year.[18]

2012 Calendar Year and London Olympics

Morgan didn't become a starter for the U.S. until the fifth game of the year in January, the final of the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament.[3] She scored twice and provided two assists to Wambach that day, in a 4–0 win over the Canadian hosts and has become a regular starter ever since. Morgan scored 14 goals in a 12-game stretch from January to late May 2012, including three straight two-goal efforts. She earned her first career hat-trick on March 7, 2012, during a 4–0 victory against Sweden in the third-place game of the Algarve Cup. In June 2012, she was nominated for an ESPY Award as the Best Breakthrough Athlete.[19]

In the opening game of 2012 London Olympics group play, Morgan scored both the equalizer and the goal that sealed the win against France.[20] In the next three Olympic matches, she assisted on the game-winning goal, including two to Wambach.[21][22][23]

USA vs Japan at the 2012 Summer Olympics

Morgan scored the winning goal in the Olympic semifinal match against Canada in extra time, sending the United States to the gold medal match against Japan. Her goal came in the 123rd minute, the latest goal ever scored by a member of the U.S. women's team and a FIFA record.[24] The goal continued her propensity for late heroics in the closing stages of matches. Seventeen of her 28 total goals to date have come after the 60th minute. The game-winning goal was Morgan's team-high 20th in 2012, becoming only the sixth and youngest U.S. player to do so in a single year.[25][26] In the final, a 2–1 win against Japan on August 9, Morgan assisted on a Carli Lloyd header.[27] She ended the tournament with 3 goals, and a team-high four assists (tied with Megan Rapinoe) and ten points (tied with Rapinoe and Wambach).[28] To celebrate her achievements, she was honored at her previous high school, Diamond Bar High School, and #13 was retired.

In 2012, Morgan led the U.S. in goals (28), multi-goal games (9), assists (21) and points (77).[29] Her calendar year goals, assists, and points totals are the third-best, tied second-best (one tally shy of record), and second-best, respectively, in U.S. WNT history. Morgan joined an exclusive club as she and Hamm are the only U.S. WNT players to record at least 20 goals and 20 assists in the same calendar year and became only the third and youngest player to reach 20 assists in a calendar year. Morgan and Wambach combined for 55 goals in 2012 – matching a 21 year old record set in 1991 by Michelle Akers (39 goals) and Carin Jennings (16 goals) as the most goals scored by any duo in U.S. WNT history. She had either scored or assisted on 41 percent of the USA's 120 goals this year. And, by herself, she comfortably out-scored and out-assisted her opponents, who combined for 21 goals and 12 assists in 32 games against the U.S.[3]

For her excellence on the field, U.S. Soccer announced Morgan as the 2012 Female Athlete of the Year.[30] Morgan’s exploits have also earned her a place on the FIFA Ballon d’Or shortlist, ultimately finished third in voting.[31]

2013 - Present

At the 2013 Algarve Cup, Morgan shared top-scoring honors. She finished the competition with four assists and three goals, including the equalizer against Sweden that advanced the U.S. to the final and the two goals against Germany that won the championship.[32][33] Morgan previously won the tournament’s golden boot in 2011.[34]

International goals

Other work

Morgan has signed with Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing to pen "The Kicks," a three-book series for middle schoolers.[35] The main characters will be four young girls centered on the themes of friendship, leadership, and soccer. In a statement released by Simon & Schuster, Morgan said she wanted her books to "inspire young girls" and "celebrate" her love of soccer. On September 1, 2012, the publisher set the release date for the first novel, "Saving The Team," on May 14, 2013.[36]

Morgan has been featured in a number of advertisement campaigns and modeling assignments, including features in the 2012 Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, appearing in a section of athletes in body paint and in the 2013 ESPN The Magazine music issue recreating Katy Perry's "One of the Boys" album cover.[37][38]

Personal life

Although her teammates rarely use it nowadays, Morgan was given the nickname "Baby Horse" by her teammates on the U.S. women's national team for her speed, running style and youth.[39][40][41] She has expressed her support for FC Barcelona.[42]

CURRENTLY DATING UNIFORMED DIVISION LIEUTENANT ROBERT GIBSON==Honors==

Club

Western New York Flash

International

Individual

See also

References

  1. ^ Alex Morgan ancestry
  2. ^ "Huge expectations for Cal's Morgan". Sports Illustrated. 2011-01-27. Retrieved 2012-12-20.
  3. ^ a b c Leander Schaerlaeckens (2012-12-21). "Alex Morgan hit the heights in 2012 Fox Soccer's USA Player of the Year award". Fox Soccer.
  4. ^ a b c "Alex Morgan Profile". Calbears.com. 2012-08-06. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
  5. ^ "Alex Morgan Biography". A&E Biography. 2013-01-17. Retrieved 2013-01-26.
  6. ^ "Senior Q&A With Alex Morgan". Cal Athletics. November 2, 2010.
  7. ^ "Alex Morgan Selected First in WPS Draft". California Golden Bears. University of California, Berkeley. January 14, 2011. Archived from the original on 8 July 2011. Retrieved July 17, 2011. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ "Flash defeats Philly for the title". ESPN. August 27, 2011. Retrieved August 22, 2012.
  9. ^ "Alex Morgan, Christine Sinclair among first among seven players added to Portland Thorns FC through allocation process". Portland Timbers. Retrieved January 11, 2013.
  10. ^ Q&A with U.S. Under-20 Star Alex Morgan, Cal Athletics, July 11, 2008.
  11. ^ U.S. Under-20 Women Hand Cuba 9–0 Defeat In FIFA U-20 World Cup Qualifying Action, United States Soccer Federation, June 20, 2008.
  12. ^ FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup Chile 2008 Goal of the Tournament, FIFA.com.
  13. ^ 2008 Goal of the Year declared, FIFA.com, January 20, 2009.
  14. ^ Morgan and Leroux, blazing a trail, FIFA.com, December 8, 2008.
  15. ^ WINTER GAMES U.S women overcome Mexico in snow, 1–0[dead link], Big Apple Soccer, March 31, 2010.
  16. ^ U.S. women shut out Italy, 1–0, and near World Cup qualification, Los Angeles Times, November 20, 2010.
  17. ^ "2012 ESPYs Nominees". ESPN. 2012-06-27. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
  18. ^ "No awards for Wambach, Sundhage". ESPN. 2012-01-09. Retrieved 2013-01-26.
  19. ^ "Olympics hero Alex Morgan to play for Portland Thorns FC". Fox 12 Oregon. 2013-01-11.
  20. ^ Carlisle, Jeff (July 25, 2012). "Grades: United States versus France". ESPN.com.
  21. ^ "Rapinoe scores, US defeats Colombia". FoxSports.com. July 28, 2012.
  22. ^ "Abby Wambach Goal Gives U.S. Women's National Team a 1–0 Victory Against Korea DPR and Group G Title at 2012 Olympics". USSoccer.com. July 31, 2012.
  23. ^ White, Joseph (August 4, 2012). "U.S. women defeat New Zealand 2–0, advance to semifinal". Associated Press.
  24. ^ Roenigk, Alyssa (August 7, 2012). "Alex Morgan makes most of moment". ESPN.com.
  25. ^ Jenna Pel (2012-08-07). "Alex Morgan USWNT's lucky No. 13 comes to the rescue again". Retrieved 2012-08-15.
  26. ^ Grant Wahl (2012-08-06). "Morgan's game-winner caps off thrilling U.S. victory over Canada". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  27. ^ http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/olympics/us-womens-soccer-wins-gold-japan-rematch/story?id=16971710#.UCQio46ysyE
  28. ^ Official USsoccer.com Match Reports (6 match reports – calculated 4 assists not 5)
  29. ^ "US WNT Caps off Fan Tribute Series Against China PR in Florida". USSoccer.com. December 15, 2012.
  30. ^ Davis, Steve (December 3, 2012). "Alex Morgan named U.S. Soccer Female Athlete of the Year". NBCSports.com.
  31. ^ "U.S. forward Wambach named world's best player". Sports Illustrated. January 7, 2013.
  32. ^ "U.S. WNT Finishes Algarve Cup Group Stage Against Sweden". USSoccer.com. March 10, 2013.
  33. ^ "WNT Takes 2013 Algarve Cup Title with 2-0 Win Against Germany". USSoccer.com. March 13, 2013.
  34. ^ French, Scott (March 9, 2011). "Alex Morgan wins Algarve gold". ESPN.com.
  35. ^ "Soccer star Alex Morgan has book deal". Wall Street Journal. August 20, 2012. Retrieved August 31, 2012.
  36. ^ "official publisher page for Alex Morgan". Simon & Schuster. September 1, 2012. Retrieved September 8, 2012.
  37. ^ "Alex Morgan - Body Paint - 2012 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition - SI.com". CNN.
  38. ^ Pressman, Stacey (February 5, 2013). "Alex Morgan talks Katy Perry, music playlist". ESPN The Magazine.
  39. ^ "What's In A Name?". US Soccer. April 4, 2013.
  40. ^ Klemko, Robert (August 6, 2012). "Alex Morgan's goal beats Canada, puts U.S. in Olympic final". USA Today.
  41. ^ Klemko, Robert (August 8, 2012). "Alex Morgan arrives just in time for U.S." USA Today.
  42. ^ American women’s soccer star Alex Morgan declares support for Barça|FC Barcelona
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