US footballer Alex Morgan at a media conference in Auckland during the 2023 FIFA women's world cup. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Alex Morgan, a two-time World Cup winner and one of the greatest goal scorers in US women's national team history, announced her retirement from professional football.
Morgan, who also revealed that she is pregnant with her second child, will play her final professional match this weekend when her San Diego Wave of the National Women's Soccer League host the North Carolina Courage.
"I'm retiring," Morgan, 35, said in a video on X. "I have so much clarity about this decision and I am so happy to be able to finally tell you.
"It has been a long time coming and this decision wasn't easy. But at the beginning of 2024 I felt in my heart and soul that this was the last season that I would play soccer."
Morgan went to her first national team training camp in 2009 and became one of the most famous female players in the world due to her prolific scoring, personality and off the field work for women's sports and equality.
Morgan, who twice finished second in voting for FIFA Women's Player of the Year, ended her international career with 123 goals, fifth all time in US history.
At the 2012 Olympics, Morgan scored a famous goal when, on the verge of a penalty shootout, she looped in a header in the 123rd minute to secure a 4-3 semi-final victory over Canada en route to winning the gold medal.
One of the last links to the great US women's soccer team dynasty, Morgan was left out of the squad that won gold at this year's Paris Olympics.
"Soccer has been a part of me for 30 years and it was one of the first things that I ever loved and I gave everything to this sport, and what I got in return was more than I could have ever dreamed of," Morgan said.
"Success for me is defined by never giving up and giving your all and I did just that."
-Reuters
