35 year old professional soccer player Alex Morgan announced her retirement on September 5, 2024. To many children, Morgan was considered to be a role model. Morgan played college soccer at the University of California, Berkeley. Morgan got drafted to play soccer professionally at 22 years old, making her the youngest player on the women’s national team. Within all of her time playing internationally she scored 123 goals, which also makes her “the fifth highest scorer in the national team’s history.”
Morgan is very well known for her iconic pink pre-wrap that she wears as a headband during practices and games. She was a striker on San Diego Wave FC and the United States Women’s National Soccer Team. Not too long ago in 2024, Morgan was left off of the 2024 Paris Olympics roster. This left many people with questions. What happened? Did she get cut from the Olympic team? This was surprising to everyone because this was her first time getting left off of the roster since her debut in 2012.
There are many different reasons for Morgan’s omission. A possibility for Morgan being left off of the roster is that she had an ankle injury that happened a few months before the Olympics. This prevented Morgan from having enough time to fully recover by the time of the Paris 2024 Olympics. Another is that the new U.S. coach Emma Hayes wanted to select younger players to represent the team rather than players that are older and more experienced like Morgan. As Morgan grew in age, people noticed her game changed drastically. Her skills have been lackluster and she’s missed many scoring opportunities. Since playing in her last eight matches with San Diego, Morgan has scored 0 goals. Many people think that her age played a big factor in this.
Morgan posted a video on social media sharing the disappointment and sorrow for her retirement. “At the beginning of 2024, I felt in my heart and soul that this was the last season that I would play soccer.” Morgan felt burned out and considering her age, she felt she couldn’t play the same as she used to. This news was devastating for everyone and the end of a wonderful era for Morgan.