What's This?
US forward Alex Morgan plays in an international friendly against New Zealand on April 4, 2015. Image: ISI/Corbis
By Rebecca Ruiz2015-06-06 15:34:55 UTC
You know Alex Morgan from the magazine covers and highlight reels. She's the charismatic U.S. striker known by fans as "Baby Horse" for the way she seems to gallop toward the goal.
But don't let that stride fool you: Morgan is one of the most gifted American forwards ever to play, with a keen sense for how to thread a ball through a defensive line and into the back of the net. In just five years on the U.S. women's national soccer team, she has scored 51 times in about 80 appearances to become the 10th leading goal scorer in team history.
Morgan is expected to be a big draw for Women's World Cup viewers, but there's one problem: It's still not clear if she'll be healthy enough to play.
Morgan has been plagued by injuries in the past year. An ankle sprain kept her from the World Cup qualifying matches last fall, and a left knee bruise has sidelined her in recent weeks. As a precaution, she missed the team's last three friendly games prior to the World Cup.
U.S. coach Jill Ellis, speaking at a Wednesday press conference, said she was "very pleased" with Morgan's progress. And yet, even if Morgan can play in the tournament's first round, it's unlikely that she'll be at peak form after her layoff.
"In terms of Alex, we're building her," Ellis recently said, according to Sports Illustrated. "Realistically, she's been off for a while. So in terms of minutes, that's something I think we're going to have to build through the early games to be ready. We don't want to blow her up too early in terms of physically being ready."
The U.S., which is in the tournament's tough "Group of Death," needs Morgan to help it dominate round-robin play. If she's not available, or can play limited minutes, the U.S. will need to count on the depth of its roster.
Abby Wambach, who holds the international record for goals scored, will obviously play a major offensive role, and forwards Christen Press, Sydney Leroux and Amy Rodriguez will be called on to lead the U.S. to victory.
That doesn't even take into account the team's effective defensive and midfield attacks; in a recent game against New Zealand, three defenders and a midfielder scored with nary a goal from a forward.
Morgan's absence would be a disadvantage for the U.S., but the only way the team will win the tournament is if they're able to prove it may not matter in the end.
Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.
