Facts you didn’t know about USWNT icon, Alex Morgan

was the unsung hero of the USWNT's big World Cup quarterfinal win over France. In 2011, she scored her first World Cup goal in the semifinal match against France, and the team went on to the finals, although they lost against Japan in a shootout.

Morgan was a multisport athlete and didn't start playing organized soccer until she was 14 years old. She attended Diamond Bar High School, where she was a three-time all-league pick and was named an NSCAA All-American. 

Her teammate,

told reporters, "I think maybe in the beginning, people saw her just as a pretty face who scored goals, but she's so much more than that."

Moreover, Rapinoe commented that Alex received the nickname "Baby Horse" as soon as she joined the team. As the youngest player on the US women's national team, she was naturally called "baby." The "horse" part pays tribute to her long legs, youth, and speed.

Her teammates believe that Morgan looked like she's galloping as she races up and down the field. Morgan has a huge social media with 9.2 million Instagram followers.

The followings are top facts you need to know about the baby horse, Alex Morgan:

Alex Morgan biography

Alexandra Patricia Morgan was born on July 2, 1989, in San Dimas, California, USA. Ѕhе wаѕ the daughter of Раmеlа Ѕ., and Місhаеl Т. Моrgаn.

Моrgаn grew up in а family of three with her two sisters, Јеnі and Jeri in the nearby suburb of Diamond Bar, a few kilometers from Lоѕ Аngеlеѕ.

As a child, Morgan portrayed talent in different sports, but as she grew up, she preferred to specialize in soccer. Dеѕріtе hеr роtеntіаl іn ѕоссеr, hеr fіrѕt сlub ѕоссеr wаѕ untіl 14 уеаrѕ оf аgе.

Ѕhе јоіnеd Сурrеѕѕ Еlіtе Ѕоссеr Club, іn whісh thеу ѕеіzеd thе соѕt ѕоссеr lеаguе fоr undеr 16 сhаmріоnѕhірѕ.

Моrgаn wеnt tо Dіаmоnd Ваr Ніgh Ѕсhооl аnd wаѕ ѕееn ехсеllіng vеrу wеll іn ѕоссеr. She was mostly picked during soccer games.

The youngest woman on the US women's national team was also the youngest girl in the house. Alex's oldest sister, Jennifer, is six years older, and her sister Jeri is four years older.

Growing up, the girls always turned everything into a competition, even if it was just racing down the street. Alex said, "Beating someone to us was just so sweet, even if it was just a family member.”

It’s worth mentioning that Morgan is bilingual, speaking both Spanish and English. Although Morgan played as a college athlete, she put in the effort to become an accomplished student as well.

She attended the prestigious University of California, Berkley where she graduated a semester early.

Alex’s childhood letter

Alex’s sister wrote their mom a note about her dream to be a model, and that inspired to tell her mom that she wanted to be a professional soccer player.

Alex detailed her thought process behind the note in an article she issued later:

“I still don’t know why I wrote what I did. I had never watched a women’s soccer match on TV. I didn’t know there was a professional league. I didn’t even know that women’s soccer was a thing beyond playing for fun.

“But one day I went with my older sister to our mom’s office. My sister found the yellow pad, and wrote a note to Mom saying what she wanted to be when she grew up. She wanted to be a model.

“And so I was like, Well, I’m gonna write a note too. And I’m gonna stick it up there so Mom sees it. I took the pad, grabbed a pen, and scribbled down my dream.

“I am going to be a professional athlete for soccer! Love always, Ali Cat.”

Morgan’s favorites

The dreaded number 13 is synonymous with bad luck, but wearing it on the back of her jersey has made Alex Morgan a household name in women's professional soccer.

31-year-old forward has appeared in three World Cups so far and is a two-time Olympian (she was on the gold-medal-winning team in 2012 and the fifth-place-finishing team in 2016). Last year, she officially reached 100 goals in her career, becoming the seventh player in USWNT history to do so.

It’s interesting to know that Morgan’s favorite team is

. When she was asked to choose between

and

, she opted for Messi.

"I would have to say Messi," Morgan said. "He's just so much better... He's a level higher than any other player I watch. He's a really exciting player to watch."

Alex’s favorite movies are: “Catch Me If You Can”, “The Blind Side”. Her favorite songs are: “Man in the Mirror” by Michael Jackson, “I Kissed a Girl” by Katy Perry.

Morgan’s awards

As the youngest player of the US national team for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, Morgan set a new record when she became the first player to ever score a goal and get an assist in a World Cup final.

During the 2012 London Olympics, Alex scored the winning goal in the 123rd minute against Canada, making it the latest goal ever scored by a player on the US women's national team.

She became the youngest US player to make 20 goals in a single year. By the end of 2012, Alex finished with 28 goals and 21 assists, joining Mia Hamm as the only two American women to have at least 20 goals and 20 assists in one year.

In February 2016, Alex set the tournament record for the fastest goal during the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifiers against Costa Rica when she scored only 12 seconds into the game.

Alex Morgan was among the three finalists for The Best FIFA Women’s Player 2019 award, along with her teammate, Megan Rapinoe.

Wage discrimination lawsuit

In 2016, Morgan joined several of her teammates to file a complaint of wage discrimination against U.S. Soccer, citing inequities between its compensation for players on the women's and men's national teams.

The matter escalated in 2019, when Morgan was among the 28 women's national team members to file a gender discrimination lawsuit against U.S. Soccer.

In 2020, a federal judge in California ruled against the players on most of the key points of the lawsuit, including their contention of discrimination under the Equal Pay Act. The players filed an appeal shortly afterward.

The women’s team was being paid around a quarter of the men’s team salary. This is despite the fact that the women’s team created $20 million more in revenue than the men’s team!

Alex said, “There is a whole issue going on in the country as far as equal pay and the fight for the gender pay gap and I felt really happy with the agreement that we reached and the fact that we can now do what we came for and play soccer.”

Morgan’s competitive nature

Morgan admitted that she has been the most competitive kid ever, playing up on her 13-year-old sister's softball team when she was just seven years old.

She can't even picture herself doing anything with her life that doesn't involve competition, "If I wasn't a soccer player, I would be... a volleyball player. If not that, a softball player. I'm too competitive not to play a sport!"

One of her Cal teammates confirmed her statements, "She's the most competitive person I've ever seen. You can't play board games with her. She goes crazy if her team's not winning. On one hand, it's funny, but on the other hand, you say, 'Wow, you're taking this a lot more seriously than the rest of us."

Her husband, Servando Carrasco, stated the same thing. "It can be absurd at times. Card games like gin rummy can turn into a fight... I mean, it's always fun, but afterward, there can be that awkward silence for two or three hours."

Carrasco said, "She’s all or nothing in every aspect of her life." When they both played soccer at UC Berkeley, Morgan recovered from an ACL injury in six months, "which, if you know anything about sports, that's pretty crazy."

"She works so damn hard," Carrasco added. "It's not so much that she has skills and ability, it's her commitment. She has such a desire to be the best. It's that desire that sets her apart."

Former USWNT head coach Jill Ellis, who has managed her fair share of competitive personalities in her career, said Morgan is "one of the most competitive people I've met. It's part of her psychological makeup ... She's always pushing herself, and she doesn't let anything sidetrack her."

Alex Morgan’s father

Alex’s father, Michael, owned a construction business and picked up girls around the city to take to amateur soccer training sessions.

Michael picked up other girls that needed a ride so the team had enough kids to play. Alex’s father also coached the team as the soccer star explained to reporters.

Mike Morgan was inexperienced in soccer, but that didn't stop him from coaching Alex when she was young. Her dad would play different positions so that she could prepare for all sorts of scenarios.

Alex said, "My dad was huge for me. He was the only dad sitting at every practice, and he still has not missed a national team game."

"A couple of times a week, my dad would pick me up from school and drive me to training. He had no clue about soccer, but he was so present, especially given what he was going through. He owned a construction business that was nearly bankrupt.

"He’d leave for work at 5 a.m., and yet he still had the energy to take me and six other girls to training, driving all over the city to pick them up. He kind of had to, really, otherwise we didn’t have enough players for a full team."

Morgan the bestselling author

Alex Morgan published her uplifting memoir in a book entitled, “Breakaway: Beyond the Goal”

<span style="font-family:times new roman,serif">

to inspire thousands of girls who want to be their best, not just in soccer, but in other sports and in life.

Morgan published another book named “Saving the Team,” which was on the New York Times Best Seller list.

She also wrote a book series titled “The Kicks” for middle grade readers. When she published the first book in May 2013, it reached number seven on the list of the New York Times Best Seller’s for the middle school age children.

The focus of the book series is soccer, but it also includes messages about empowerment, self-confidence, and teamwork, values Alex shows on and off the pitch.

Morgan’s husband

Morgan has been married to Servando Carrasco, LA Galaxy midfielder, since December 2014.

Alex married Orlando City midfielder on New Year’s Eve 2014. The two met when they were both playing soccer for UC Berkeley. They dated shortly after, got engaged in early December 2013 and married almost a year later.

After announcing she was pregnant in October 2019, Morgan gave birth to a daughter, Charlie Elena, on May 7, 2020.

FIFA Video Game Cover

Along with her Portland Thorns teammates, Christine Sinclair and Steph Catley, Alex became one of the first woman athletes to appear on the cover of FIFA 16, an enormously popular soccer video game.

She is featured on the cover of the US version of the game next to Argentinean player Lionel Messi. Released in September 2015, the video game is also the first to include women's teams.

Morgan got a late start to soccer

Alex played multiple sports while growing up, and she did not start club-team soccer until she was 14 years old. Most soccer players who become stars started many years earlier.

However, this “late start” did not seem to affect Alex’s abilities at all.

Morgan’s wedding

Alex Morgan and Servando Carrasco tied the knot on New Year's Eve, and the wedding was a who's who of American soccer royalty, with USWNT stars like Sydney Leroux and Abby Wambach representing.

The couple got married in front of 180 guests at Rancho Dos Pueblos in Santa Barbara, California.

Maracas were provided during the post-wedding party as a way to celebrate Carrasco’s heritage. All of the guests were given personalized coke cans with their names on them.

Morgan’s tea-sipping goal celebration

Alex Morgan pretended to sip tea after a decisive goal against England in the World Cup and then the fans started to sing “Happy Birthday”.

However, Morgan’s goal celebration provoked controversy during the USA’s World Cup semi-final victory over England.

Morgan explained, “I feel like we didn’t take an easy route through this tournament and ‘that’s the tea’.”

“I feel there is some double-standard for females in sports to feel like we have to be humble in our successes and have to celebrate, but not too much,” the star forward told reporters



Friday.

“You see men celebrating all around the world in big tournaments, you know, grabbing their sacks or whatever it is,” she continued. “And when I look at sipping a cup of tea, I’m a little taken aback, and you have to laugh about it to see all the criticism. So, I’m a little disappointed in that.”

Morgan clarified the celebration was actually inspired by “Game of Thrones” star Sophie Turner, who regularly uses “and that’s the tea” as a social media signoff, then takes a sip.

“It wasn’t a hit to England in any way,” said Morgan.

Morgan’s pose prompted a variety of suggestions regarding its meaning. Public opinion seemed to be balanced between the motion being a shot at England’s fondness for tea; a reference to the ease with which Morgan scored; a tribute to the Boston Tea Party; or the fact that Morgan’s goal came on her 30th birthday.

Piers Morgan called it “a declaration of war”, while Hillary Clinton said “congrats to the USWNT for earning that tea”.

Morgan’s pink headband

Morgan always wears a pink headband during matches. While it doesn't match the colors of any of her national or Orlando Pride uniforms, Morgan has a very good reason for sticking to this particular hair accessory.

In fact, Morgan has been seen wearing the pink headband since her college days at University of California, Berkeley, where she met the fellow soccer player who'd become her husband, Servando Carrasco.

According to reports, Carrasco's mother, Gloria, was diagnosed with breast cancer around this time, the first of two times, both of which she survived.

Therefore, to show love and support for her mother-in-law, Morgan wears the pink headband associated with breast cancer awareness.

Alex Morgan’s Net Worth

According to a Time article on the world's highest paid women soccer players, Alex's salary is around $450,000 per year. Due to the US National Women's Soccer League salary cap of $265,000, this means that nearly half her salary is coming from endorsements.

The Orlando Pride and U.S. women's national team striker is one of the highest-paid women soccer players, and that’s why she has various deals.

Аlех Моrgаn’s net worth is estimated to be about $4 million. Неr рrіmаrу ѕоurсе оf іnсоmе іѕ hеr саrееr аѕ а рrоfеѕѕіоnаl ѕоссеr рlауеr.

Morgan is a Nike ambassador and regularly forms part of the company's promotional imagery for their latest kit or boot releases.

Morgan currently has also commercial deals with corporate giants such as Coca-Cola, McDonald's,

<span style="font-family:times new roman,serif">

Chobani, AT&T, Panasonic, and Chapstick.

Read More:

Follow

 for