As the game clock ticked to the 13th minute in Snapdragon Stadium on Sunday, Alex Morgan, surrounded by her San Diego Wave FC teammates, began to untie her boots. She slowly removed her cleats, tearfully waving to a packed crowd, now all on their feet as the American soccer legend exited the field for the final time in her professional career. The moment marked the end of a storied career. Morgan announced her retirement from professional soccer just days before San Diego’s match against the North Carolina Courage after revealing she is pregnant with her second child.
It’s a tall task to distill such an impactful and illustrious career into a single story or isolated achievement. One image, however, has endured as an emblem of Morgan’s influence on the sport.
