Cal Sports Report

Why Alex Morgan Was Left Off the U.S. Olympic Soccer Roster

Former Cal standout Morgan was not even named as one of the four alternates for the Summer Games in Paris

Jake Curtis

Forward Alex Morgan
Forward Alex Morgan / Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports
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There had been much debate about whether former Cal star Alex Morgan would be a member of the United States women’s 18-player soccer roster for the Olympics.

On Wednesday that question was answered when U.S. head coach Emma Hayes announced the U.S. Women’s National Team’s Olympic roster.  Morgan was left off the roster. And no aspect of the roster announcement  created more of a stir than  the omission of Morgan.

She was considered a borderline case to make the squad, but why did she not make the cut? That issue is addressed below, but first let's consider what the omission of Morgan means.

Morgan was not even named as one of the four alternates to the U.S. team, so she won’t be making the trip to Paris. The United States’ first soccer Olympic game is scheduled for July 25 against Zambia.

It will be the first major tournament since the 2008 Olympics that the U.S. roster does not include Morgan, who has 224 caps and 123 international goals, the most by any active American player and fifth-most in U.S. history.

Morgan gave her response to her omission on twitter:

Five forwards were named to the squad: Crystal Dunn, Trinity Rodman, Jaedyn Shaw, Sophia Smith and Mallory Swanson. Not Morgan.

Morgan could have provided the veteran leadership the young American squad might need when it faced adversity. She was a member of the U.S. Women's National Team in every international competition this year, and was a starter in most of them. But those U.S. teams had 23-player rosters, five more than allowed on the Olympic roster.

So why wasn’t Morgan included on the Olympic roster? Some possible reasons:

---Morgan turns 35 years old in a week, and Hayes is trying to rebuild the U.S. team around youth. The U.S. team had its worst showing ever in a major tournament when it lost in the round of 16 in last year’s World Cup.  And Hayes is looking toward long-term success.  The U.S. women’s team is currently ranked No. 5 in the world, its lowest ranking ever. In making her roster announcement, Hayes asked for patience from fans, an indication that she is going with a youth movement.  However, 10 players who were on the U.S. roster for last year’s World Cup are on the current Olympic roster.

---Morgan missed a month of activity with her NWSL team, the San Diego Wave, when she suffered a significant ankle injury on April 19.  She’s been trying to work her way back into shape ever since, but might not be quite there.

---Morgan scored a league-high 22 goals in NWSL play in 2022 and seven last year. But she has not scored a single goal for the Wave in the eight games in which she has played this season.  Morgan has scored just two goals for the USWNT this year, and one was on a penalty and both came back in February in the Americans’ first two games of the Concacaf Gold Cup. She has not scored a goal since.

---Morgan is strictly a No. 9 striker, and Hayes had said she wants versatile players she can plug into other positions on the pitch when needed.

One other thing deserves mention, whether it matters or not.  Morgan did not play in either of the Wave’s two most recent games, last Wednesday and this past Saturday.  She was not available for Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Houston because of an excused absence that was never explained.

Now the question is this: Will Morgan announce her retirement from competitive soccer soon?

Here is the U.S. Olympic roster:

2024 U.S. Olympic women's soccer team roster by position (Caps/Goals):

GOALKEEPERS (2): Casey Murphy (North Carolina Courage; 19), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars; 104)

DEFENDERS (6): Tiera Davidsn (NJ/NT Gotham FC; 58/3), Emily Fox (Arsenal FC, ENG; 49/1), Naomi Girma (San Diego Wave; 32/0), Casey Krueger (Washington Spirit; 49/0), Jenna Nighswonger (NJ/NY Gotham FC; 9/2), Emily Sonnet (NJ/NY Gotham FC; 91/2)

MIDFIELDERS (5): Korbin Albert (Paris Saint-Germain; FRA; 11/0), Sam Coffey (Portland Thorns FC; 17/1), Lindsey Horan (Olympique Lyon, FRA; 148/35),  Rose Lacelle (NJ/NY Gotham FC; 100/24), Catarina Macario (Chelsea FC, ENG; 19/8)

FORWARDS (5): Crystal Dunn (NJ/NY Gotham FC; 147/25), Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit; 38/7), Jaedyn Shaw (San Diego Wave FC; 14/7), Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns FC; 48/19), Mallory Swanson (Chicago Red Stars; 92/34)

Alternates: Goalkeeper Jane Campbell, midfielder Hal Hershfelt, midfielder Croix Bethune and forward Lynn Williams.

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Jake Curtis

JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

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