How Alex Morgan grew into a U.S. team leader

Four years ago, the United States women's soccer team brought a then-21-year-old Alex Morgan to the Women's World Cup. Morgan was a spark off the bench, a speedy forward who went into a match during the latter stages and ran at tired defenses.

She left the tournament as an emerging star.

Morgan opened the scoring in the 2011 World Cup final with a 69th-minute tally that looked as though it would send the U.S. women to their first title since 1999. But Japan equalized with nine minutes remaining and, after trading goals in overtime, Japan won on penalty kicks, 3-1.

The experience that she gained, despite the loss, shaped her approach to her second World Cup.

"I think going into this World Cup, I know what to expect a little more and I know what I need to prepare for this World Cup and feel more at peace mentally," Morgan said. "There [are] some things you just can't learn unless you have a World Cup under your belt and go through that emotional roller coaster from the group stages to the knockout rounds."

The California native described her first World Cup as a learning process.

"I was definitely learning during that 2011 World Cup. Christie [Rampone] and Carli [Lloyd] and Abby [Wambach], and a couple of other players were helping me along the way," Morgan said. "It was my first major tournament and I didn't really know what to expect going in. I hadn't played in front of a crowd larger than five or 10 thousand. It was very new to me."

Morgan played at California-Berkeley from 2007 to 2010, scoring 45 goals. Golden Bears coach Neil McGuire said her time with the U.S. youth and senior national teams made the game easier for her.

"The international game is significantly faster, more skilled with added tactical layers than the collegiate game, so when Alex would return from national team duty the game was easier for her," McGuire said. "She found herself with more space and time to be dangerous and as a result scored goals in bunches."

Paul Riley, who coached the Philadelphia Independence of Women's Professional Soccer, has coached Morgan for the last two seasons in Portland. He has watched her grow, despite two ankle injuries that have kept her out for extended periods of time. The injuries, he said, have allowed the 25-year-old a chance to improve off the field.

"When you get injured you do get to step back a little bit. You make a to-do list. You read books on the mind and the game itself," Riley said in a phone interview. "Then you look at different things about the sport. . . . Some people don't do well with setbacks, but Alex has improved."

Riley has seen Morgan grow tactically in the short time he's been in Portland.

"Her intellectual soccer level has just become more expansive. She understands the game better now," Riley said. "She's a lot more savvy [tactically] than she was when she came out of college. I've seen that growth in her just in the year and a half I've been here.

"She's not just a player who runs behind anymore. She can play in different areas of the field and that's always tricky to play against."

Morgan is no longer the unknown quantity. She has scored 51 times in 84 appearances for her country. She had a breakout year in 2012 in which she scored 28 goals, including a 123d-minute header in the Olympic semifinals against Canada to send the Americans to the gold medal game.

She is now the face of the U.S. team and has assumed a new role.

"She's become a leader on the national team. Now she's the face of the sport in this country and she's carried the flag well," Riley said. "Some players can't handle [that] pressure. Alex is one of them who can handle pressure. She's growing to be able to handle the pressure."

Morgan recognizes that her role has evolved.

"I feel like I have grown into a greater role on this team and with my club team," Morgan said. "I still feel like I am growing as a player and developing, but I'm on the right path to where I eventually want to be."

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Alex Morgan's international career took off after she scored six goals as a substitute in 2011, including two goals in the World Cup. Since then, she has started nearly every international game for the United States. Here are Morgan's career offensive statistics in international games:

YEAR   GAMES   STARTED   GOALS   ASSISTS

2010   8   0   4   1

2011   19   2   6   2

World Cup: 5 games, 1 start, 2 goals

2012   31   27   28   21

Olympics: 6 games (all starts), 3 goals

2013   12   10   6   4

2014   7   4   5   4

2015   7   7   2   0

Totals   84   50   51   32   

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