Alex Morgan.
Soccer superstar.
San Diego soccer superstar.
Captain of the San Diego Wave.
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Co-captain of the U.S. World Cup team.
San Diego business owner.
Is Morgan the biggest name in the world of sports right now? Well, if you're talking about the spotlight on the team co-captain as she leads the U.S. team into the World Cup competition down under, maybe so.
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But if we're talking sheer size, the 20-foot statue of Morgan installed recently in New York City's midtown to help celebrate the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 may make her the biggest star in US sports right now. Modeled after the Statue of Liberty, the supersized Morgan holds in one hand a soccer ball standing in for the tablet with the date of the nation's founding and a World Cup-like trophy standing in for Lady Liberty's torch in the other — the statue is a show-stopper background from many an Instagram post.
In real life, Morgan, a two-time World Cup Champion and U.S. Olympic gold medalist, has enough star power to help sell out Wave games at Snapdragon Stadium. According to the the football club, lucky No. 13 is "one of the most decorated players in women's soccer history."
It was Morgan, of course, who broke through San Diego's sports glass ceiling that required local superstar athletes to be named Tony.
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The striker was named the 2012 U.S. Soccer Female Athlete of the Year and was a co-captain of the U.S. team from 2018-20, and in international competition, her golden boot is responsible for an astonishing 115 goals.
A native Californian, Morgan grew up in Diamond Bar and attended the University of California, Berkeley. Lately, though, she's been spending her days with her husband, Servando Carrasco, a former MLS player, and their daughter, Charlie. What else has Morgan been up to recently? Well, last month, news came that she had invested in a Soccer Post store in Solana Beach.
“I just love seeing the next generation come here today and just feel a little more inspired,” Morgan told the San Diego Union-Tribune, which also reported that her San Diego foundation would be on the receiving end of some of the revenue generated by the store during the World Cup.
Morgan will hit the pitch for the first U.S. game (vs. Vietnam) on Friday at 6 p.m. Wanna watch with friends? There's a viewing party down in Otay Ranch at NOVO Brazil Brewing Company. They have a 22-foot LED Screen and THREE 14-footers, to boot!
