HARRISON, N.J. — For all of the firepower on the U.S. national team, it's easy to overlook the influence of any one player. With depth like this, the Americans should be able to paper over any cracks once the Women's World Cup rolls around, right?
Maybe in theory. But in reality, this team has to have Alex Morgan.
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"Whenever Alex is 100 percent, we need her," forward Abby Wambach said. "We need her to win."
Yes, the U.S. combined for eight goals without the injured Morgan in recent friendly wins against Ireland and Mexico. And the strikers were prolific in Morgan's absence — Wambach scored twice in each game, while Sydney Leroux had a double against El Tri.
Yet the Americans' send-off friendly Saturday against South Korea shined a spotlight on Morgan's absence. While the U.S. dominated possession, coach Jill Ellis rued a lack of finishing prowess in the scoreless draw at Red Bull Arena.
With Leroux staying high, using her speed to stretch the back line, Wambach found herself dropping deeper into midfield to facilitate before crashing the box in search of service. But the final touch wasn't there.
Situationally, Leroux and Wambach are going to be important pieces of the puzzle in Canada, but Morgan is the player for every scenario. She's the lethal finisher with a knack for putting defenders on their heels who could have made the difference Saturday.
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After sitting out all three warm-up matches because of a bone bruise in her left knee, Morgan appears unlikely to start the Americans' opener against Australia on June 8 in Winnipeg — even if she's confident the injury won't be a hindrance come World Cup time.
"I've been doing a lot better, and I'm still day to day," Morgan said last week. "Once June 8 comes, there's no question in my mind my knee won't be bothering me. I'm going to be 100 percent, and I'm looking forward to the World Cup and knowing that's not going to set me back at all."
The issue, of course, is fitness. Even if Morgan is at 100 percent health-wise, as she says she'll be, the 25-year-old won't be able to play a full 90 minutes for a while. Now it's apparent Morgan will have to use the group stage matches as a springboard for the knockout round.
"We're building her," Ellis said. "Realistically, she's been out for a while. In terms of minutes, that's something I think we're going to have to build through the early games to be ready. We're not blowing her up too early in terms of physically being ready."
The silver lining is Morgan's track record in a substitute role. Morgan came off the bench five times at the 2011 World Cup, scoring in the semifinal and final. Despite a tough group stage draw with Australia, Sweden and Nigeria on tap, the U.S. shouldn't need her in the starting lineup to advance. If she can go 75 minutes by the round of 16 or quarterfinals, the Americans should be in good shape.
It's not an ideal scenario — but some Morgan is better than no Morgan at all.
"I'm comfortable if she doesn't start games," Wambach said. "Think about it from the opposite perspective: Alex Morgan hasn't played a single minute, she comes on fresh in some of these latter games — whether it's the second, third, fourth game — if I'm the opposing team, I'm scared as heck."
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In the meantime, the U.S. can take solace in that depth up top. Leroux (back up to speed after an ankle injury) and Wambach (at age 34) have proven themselves to still be valuable assets during the send-off series. Amy Rodriguez played herself back into the mix for a starting spot with a strong Algarve Cup in March. And emerging star Christen Press also is an option up top, though her services might be needed on the flank.
"It sucks," Leroux said of Morgan's injury. "But we're going to need every woman. It's going to take 23 players to win this thing."
Morgan is one them — perhaps the most important one of them all.
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