Alex Morgan
Alexandra Morgan Carrasco is an American former professional soccer player who most recently played as a striker for the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) club San Diego Wave FC, which she was a captain of, and the United States national team. She co-captained the United States with Carli Lloyd and Megan Rapinoe from 2018 to 2020 and with Lindsay Horan in 2023. 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. Morgan joined Portland Thorns FC in the NWSL's inaugural season in 2013 and helped the team win the league championship that year. Morgan played for the Thorns through the 2015 season, after which she was traded to the expansion team 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. Morgan joined the expansion team San Diego Wave FC in 2022; she received the NWSL Golden Boot as the league's top scorer that year and helped win the NWSL Shield the following season. 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. On September 5, 2024, Morgan announced via social media that she would be retiring and her last match would be September 8, 2024.
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