Morgan surges in France, still plans to rejoin Pride
Before the Pride’s season opener, Alex Morgan sent a message of support through social media with a post on Twitter that read: “Looking forward to watching @ORLPride today, loving how all games are streamed globally. Good luck ladies!”
Morgan is keeping an eye on the Pride from afar as she continues playing for highly decorated Olympique Lyonnais in France’s Division 1 Féminine — and playing well.
She has nine goals in 10 total appearances so far, including four goals Sunday in Lyon’s 10-0 romp against Hénin-Beaumont in the French Cup semifinals. Lyon will play for its sixth French title May 19 against Paris Saint-Germain.
Before that, though, Morgan will go up against U.S. women’s national teammate Carli Lloyd, who now plays in England for Manchester City, when the their teams meet in a UEFA Champions League semifinal on Saturday.
Off the field, she’s finding success on Lyon’s YouTube channel with a weekly series called “Rendez-Vous with Alex Morgan.” The episodes are by far the mostviewed videos on the channel, with views reaching up to about 255,000.
With all her success, plus the many new additions to the Pride’s attack, including Marta, fans continue to question whether she really will return when Lyon’s season ends in June.
Club executives continue to answer questions with confidence, saying she absolutely will come back and finish the 2017 National Women’s Soccer League season.
“We fully expect Alex to come back,” Orlando City general manager Niki Budalic told the Orlando Sentinel. “That was one of the challenges last year, trying to find the best way to build around her, and we’ve found the perfect player in Marta.”
Morgan seemed to confirm that statement the day Marta was signed, when she tweeted, “Can’t wait to pay together again and win another league title!”
The two played together in 2011 for the Western New York Flash in the now-defunct Women’s Professional Soccer League.
During Pride media day last week, CEO Alex Leitão and Pride coach Tom Sermanni reiterated that statement, while also making clear that Morgan is not under contract with the team at the moment and will not show up in promotional material while she is under contract with Lyon.