Alex Morgan is a soccer superstar. Her athletic accomplishments are tremendously impressive. She is one of the leading scorers in U.S. Women’s Soccer history with over 100 goals.. She is not only dominating in her sports, but she is also captivating our hearts because of her beauty.. And if you need a little refresher about Morgan, check out below some of the fascinating facts about the soccer pro.
At 7, She Wanted To Be A Professional Soccer Player
We all know Morgan is on top of the game when it comes to soccer. Well, she started dreaming for it since she was young.
“Having this dream since I was seven years old to be a professional soccer player and living it now I never really understood the responsibility that I had and the amount of eyes on me, and it’s pretty incredible, but I feel like because of that you have a responsibility to leave the game in a way that sets up that next generation to do even bigger and better things,” the athlete said in a video posted on the USWNT Instagram.
She Has A Very Supportive Father
Morgan’s dad, Michael, was really supportive of her passion. He owned a business and he would pick her up to take soccer practice a couple of times a week. He would also pick up other girls that needed a ride so they had enough players for a full soccer team.
Morgan shared for The Players’ Tribune, “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.”
Amazing dad, isn’t he? Not only that, he would also act as their coach during practices.
She’s An Author
Morgan is not only a world and Olympic soccer champ, she’s also a book author. She has authored a line of children’s books, called ‘The Kicks.’ It is all about friendship, teamwork, perseverance and responsibility.
She’s An Advocate For Equality
Morgan does not shy away from standing up for what she believes is right. That includes advocating for equality and equal pay for female athletes.
In 2016, Morgan and four other athletes filed a wage-discrimination act against the U.S. Soccer Federation. This is because the women’s team was being paid less than of the men’s team. She said ‘equal pay for equal play.’
“We think it’s time for U.S. soccer to truly address the inequality and do what is right. This is not about the women’s team going after the men’s team, or comparing stats and records with them. We love those guys, and they have come out publicly in support of our filing and have offered to help however possible. They have also fought their way to better compensation, and without them fighting for what they have, we would have no general benchmark for what we deserve: equal pay for equal play,” Morgan wrote in am essay for Cosmopolitam.com.
For Her, Scoring A Goal Is ‘Like Being A Kid All Over Again’
Morgan has succeeded in almost every soccer club she’s ever stepped foot in. She ‘s a soccer veteran and ranks as a top goal scorer with more than 100 score goals. She also earned the adidas Silver Boot in the Women’s FIFA World Cup.
Although she already made huge goal caps, the athlete still feels a ‘pure euphoric feeling’ when scoring a goal. She described it like ‘being a kid all over again.’
She said to Entrepreneur.com, “What does it feel like to score a goal? I’m always stumped for this question, but the best way I can put it is that scoring a goal is like being a kid all over again. It’s this pure euphoric feeling that you don’t get as an adult as often anymore. Celebrating with my teammates is the greatest, knowing that nobody is doing it on their own. I’m not the one who started the play that got me the ball to score with. I love it. You know, during the game, there will come moments when you are so tired and you feel like you can’t make that 30-yard run, but after you score, you have no problem sprinting across the field to your bench to celebrate with the team. You don’t feel your legs at that moment, it’s amazing.”
She Appeared In Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Cover 2019
The soccer pro was first featured in the 2012 Sports Illustrated Issue, though she did not cover. For the 2019 issue, Morgan was one of the three cover models, joining supermodels Camille Kostek and Tyra Banks. The 2019 issue was her third Sports Illustrated photoshoot and she’s just getting more stunning every time.
“I think that I’ve definitely grown into this side of myself and being able to really show off my personality and my style off the field. I have dedicated a lot of my life to soccer, but I am in no way defined by what I do. And so, in that, I am more than just a soccer player and I’m so happy taking advantage of opportunities off the field,” she told SI on embracing her sexy side.
She Prioritizes Sleep And Recovery
Being a world class athlete is physically and mentally demanding. It requires a lot of preparation and conditioning. For Morgan, her top priorities are sleep and recovery. She wants to ensure a good sleep to fight negativities and stress.
“I find myself sleeping in different beds all the time because of being on the national team and pretty much being on the road all the time. I think we were on the road 150 days last year, which is more than the men’s national team or most teams in general,” she said to Entrepreneur.com. “It creates a sort of jet lag feeling. When I don’t sleep well I feel more irritable and stressed out. There’s a negativity that comes over me when I’m training because obviously if you’re tired, you’re running around wondering how long you’ve been out there and when it’s going to end. So just having a sleep system that works for me important for all around positivity and just lowering stress levels.”
Morgan is also into visualizing and meditating prior to big events. She said that it helped her focus more in the game. She likes to visualize herself scoring a goal. Well, the world witnessed many times on how this athlete made her visualization into a reality. She keeps on scoring goals and the numbers can’t lie.
“What tends to work for me is a sort of meditation or visualization before the game. I love to step on the field before the game, before there are fans in the stadium, when the grass has been untouched. I like to visualize myself scoring a goal or going up against a defender or battling for a header,” the athlete continued.
“That helps me focus more during a game because I feel like I’ve been there and I’ve done that before. If things aren’t going great during a game, I tell myself to forget anything I’ve done so far — shots I’ve missed or losing a tackle or losing the ball. I get myself back in the present moment and focus on the positive.”
Her Physical Workout Is No Joke
Morgan is a phenomenal in the soccer field. And it’s not just all about passion of how she got the superhuman feat. The actress has put so much effort in it and a massive amount of workout.
When it comes to Alex’s exercise routine, her goals are mostly surrounded by soccer, “Of course playing soccer, but if I’m not doing that, either circuit training or doing stations like a couple of minutes each so you get a full body workout in an hour,” she told StyleCaster.com. “[I enjoy] doing rope work with a big rope, and ball work. I train every day, and usually I have one day off every week. They range from two hours to three-and-a-half, maybe more. We’ll train more if we’re in pre-season.”
Aside from soccer related exercises, the athlete also goes to the gym to work on her other muscles.
She previously told Elle. “Then we’ll probably lift once or twice a week in the gym, everything from bicep curls to lunges to body squats and core work and maintenance things that are going help each person succeed.”
Then, it’s all about recovery. “After that, it’s recovering your body so you can get back into training. I feel like I know what my body needs.”
She’s Into Vegan Diet
In the past, Morgan does not like restrictive in her diet.
“I’m all about moderation, and I don’t like restrictive diets or to really restrict myself too much,” she told StyleCaster. “I feel like what you put in your body is the energy and output you’re going to get so that’s very important for athletes.”
That said, she also likes to eat Chobani yogurt topped with fruit or granola. She also likes to drink fruit smoothies in the morning and have a sandwich or a salad with chicken or another lean meat with fruit for lunch.
However, just in 2018, the athlete has changed her diet into a vegan diet. The vegan diet is deprived of all animal products, including meat, dairy and eggs.
Her typical meal includes oatmeal with berries and nut butter in the morning and rice with some veggies, quinoa, and black beans for lunch. The athlete shared to USA Today that shifting into a vegan lifestyle was hard for her.
“That was the hardest thing for me to change because a lot of the things I love like pancakes and French toast had dairy and eggs,” she said.
But the athlete can choose from many vegan options nowadays. For dinner, she will have a Chickpea Thai curry with rice or plant-based burgers with veggies. A Mexican bean and sautéed veggie burrito is also her other option. “Mexican is naturally pretty vegan friendly (as long as there isn’t pork lard in the beans). There’s a pretty wide range of things to get protein,” she told USA Today.
