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athlete in the world. She starred in a Nick- she says when her driver catches air. All
elodeon movie for kids, Alex & Me; wrote
a series of books for middle schoolers that
was made into an Amazon TV series; and
has shared a stage with Taylor Swift.
But Morgan, who in April joined Hamm
and Wambach as the youngest U.S. players
to score 100 career international goals, has
never dominated the World Cup. She was
a breakout rookie in a losing effort in 2011,
and was hobbled by injuries in 2015 when
Carli Lloyd’s heroics powered the U.S. to
victory. This year is the best chance for
America’s best player to make her mark on
the world’s most prestigious tournament—
while showing that she should be paid the
same as any man for doing it.
“We have to do more in general—
we have to be the athlete, we have to be
the role model, we have to lead the way
for the next generation,” Morgan says.
“Are male athletes doing that? Are they
thinking about anyone other than them-
selves? I don’t know. We do have more
than one job within this role, and are
getting paid much less.”
So it’s understandable if the weight
of it all weighs on Morgan as she hacks
away at the driving range. After a few
crisp swings, she whiffs, missing the ball
completely. “I’m going back to my 7-iron,”
international goal in April; snapping a selfie
with fans; and celebrating her legendary
goal to beat Canada at the 2012 Olympics
that looms in the background is national
unity, gender equality and Morgan’s pro-
fessional legacy. “You can’t think about
it,” she says. “But you can’t not.”
Leading the fight for equal pay
in sports was far from the mind of the
8-year-old Morgan when she left a Post-it
for her mother, Pam, at their home in
Diamond Bar, Calif., a suburb east of Los
Angeles. “Hi Mommy!” Morgan wrote on
a note Pam still has. “My name is Alex and
I am going to be a professional athlete for
soccer!” She signed it “Ali Cat.”
The certainty was surprising. Unlike
most promising young soccer players,
Morgan avoided the high-pressure South-
ern California youth circuit and played
many different sports as a kid. Her com-
petitiveness was honed in fierce board
games with her parents and two older sis-
ters. “Alex strove not to be the loser,” says
her father Michael, a retired masonry con-
tractor. “Because she knew she was going
to get party-danced around.”
Morgan began playing elite travel soc-
cer at 14, years after many of her contem-
poraries. She credits playing a range of
sports with preventing her from burning
out. “When I went to soccer practice,
From left: Morgan, during the game
in which she scored her 100th career
X
I was really excited because I hadn’t
been there in four days,” says Morgan.
She worries that today’s youth system is
also pricing out potential soccer stars and
is counter productive to America’s future
competitiveness.
Morgan’s speed and knack for scor-
ing earned her a soccer scholarship to
the University of California, Berkeley,
where she graduated with a degree in po-
litical economy and met her future hus-
band, Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder Ser-
vando Carrasco, who also played for the
school. Morgan excelled on the pitch for
Cal and was named to the U.S. Under-20
team, which functions as a feeder for the
top national team. After helping lead the
U.S. to the 2008 Under-20 World Cup title
with a brilliant left-footed goal in the final,
Morgan was called up to the senior squad.
Her impact was immediate. Morgan
scored a key goal against Italy to help
the U.S. qualify for the 2011 World Cup,
and she emerged as a go-to substitute in
the tournament. Undaunted by soccer’s
biggest stage, Morgan scored in both the
semis and the finals in her first World
Cup, which the U.S. lost in heartbreak-
ing fashion to Japan.
The performance endeared Morgan to
her older teammates, who gave her the
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