Orlando Pride’s long-awaited favorite Alex Morgan is back in Orlando, and back on the training field. But don’t expect her to be suited up in purple come game day just yet.
“I obviously had June 17th on my calendar as my first game back but that’ll be prolonged a little bit,” said Morgan following her first training back with the club on Friday.
Morgan re-aggravated a pre-existing hamstring injury in the French side’s championship match. While running drills during training, she is not ready for contact just yet.
“The doctors haven’t set a specific date or anything just because it’s a re-injury,” said Morgan. “But it wasn’t as bad as the first time so I’m back running and everything. Every day I’ll be able to do a little more. I have my own personal goals but I want to make sure that I am 100% and ready to go before I put myself in a vulnerable position.”
In Alex’s absence the Pride have gone 2-3-3 and are 7th in the NWSL standings. But with Morgan back in the mix, expectations are on the rise.
“It’s going to add an additional dimension with her attacking abilities. I think we already have a great deal of mobility and certainly Alex coming back into the team will add to that,” said Pride Head Coach Tom Sermanni. “I think she’ll do very well on this team, particularly having some one like Marta supplying her with chances.”
And as far as repeating the split year next season, Alex quickly turned the conversation back to the here and now when asked, saying while she enjoyed the five months overseas, she is just happy to be back at home with a team she sees so much potential in.