Morgan returns, but she likely won’t stay very long
USWNT play overlapping start of Challenge Cup
Alex Morgan is back to training with the Orlando Pride for the first time in over a year, but the star striker is frustrated by a new delay in her return to club play.
Morgan will likely miss the opening matches of the NWSL Challenge Cup while playing with the United States women’s national team in Sweden, possibly pushing back her first club match to the start of the regular season in May.
“I’m super bummed that the Challenge Cup is falling within a FIFA window,” Morgan said. “I think that NWSL could’ve had the opportunity to start the Challenge Cup outside of the FIFA window in order for each team to have their entire roster . ...
“But having to adjust is something that I think is gonna be a theme for this year if the Olympics are gonna happen, and you have to count on those happening.”
Morgan is one of three U.S. national team players on the Pride roster — along with captains Ashlyn Harris and Ali Krieger — who could be called up.
As she enters her eighth season in the NWSL, Morgan said she feels hopeful about the league’s growth.
The NWSL will add a new team in Louisville this season, along with the continuation of new sponsorship partners forged during the pandemic last year.
“Every year I feel the league gets better and better,” Morgan said. “Salaries are a small thing we could point to. We obviously want it to continue, [for] the minimum salary and maximum salary to go up and up every year a little bit more than they currently are.”
Despite hoping for higher salaries in the future, Morgan said she’s impressed by increased buy-in from club owners.
Morgan described the “very professional” environment in Louisville as a benefit to the NWSL. She also noted the importance of new female investors and owners, such as Naomi Osaka in North Carolina and the women-led investment and ownership groups in Chicago, D.C. and Los Angeles.
“Throughout each team, I feel like it’s just become more and more professional,” Morgan said. “I feel like Orlando is setting the bar in terms of what it provides to the players. Just the club’s resources in general are amazing, so I think we’re setting the bar high in that way.”
It’s been nearly two years since Morgan spent meaningful time in training with the Pride due to international duty, pregnancy and her short loan to Tottenham. The striker played just six matches under coach Marc Skinner before departing for the 2019 FIFA World Cup, then only six minutes upon her return before suffering a season-ending injury.
This preseason, which Morgan described as extremely competitive, offered her the opportunity to connect with new and familiar teammates.
She was the only player to log a full 90-minute shift during the Pride’s first preseason match against Kansas City. Scoring in the SheBelieves Cup and playing that initial preseason game bolstered Morgan’s confidence for the 2021 season.
Although she likely won’t be available for the opening NWSL matches, Morgan said she feels prepared to contribute to the team once she returns to Orlando.
“I feel really good,” Morgan said. “I feel like 90-minutes-[per]-game fit. I still need to refine little things in front of goal here and there, but otherwise I feel back to myself and just happy to be back in with the squad training every day and excited for these next preseason games. I think just getting in that routine of consistent games with the team is only gonna get our chemistry building quicker and [get us] ready for [the] season.”