"Not in my wildest dreams could I imagine standing up here"- Alex Morgan emotionally addresses crowd as San Diego Wave FC retires her jersey in honor

Alex Morgan emotionally addressed the crowd as her former team, San Diego Wave FC, retired her iconic jersey number 13. As the club's all-time leading scorer and assist leader with 28 goals and 11 assists, Morgan retired from professional soccer in 2024.

Alex Morgan has been one of the leading names in soccer, both at the club and international levels. She played for multiple clubs, spending the most years with the Orlando Pride, but her greatest success came during her time with the San Diego Wave. The 36-year-old scored a career-high 15 goals in 17 games in her first season with the Wave and went on to lead the squad to an 11–4–7 record in 2023, topping the standings.

The following season, Morgan announced that she would retire after playing the September match against the North Carolina Courage. In San Diego Wave's latest game against the Houston Dash, the club paid tribute to Morgan by retiring her 13th jersey. She graced the stage with her family as the crowd turned up sporting the same Alex Morgan #13 t-shirt. The Olympic gold medalist addressed the crowd, saying:

"To the young girls and boys in the stadium, this wasn't a possibility for seven-year-old Alex. Seven-year-old Alex had a dream of playing soccer but not in my wildest dreams could I imagine standing up here seeing my number get retired but that wasn't possible and now it is."

In her international career, Alex Morgan led the US team to the gold at the 2012 London Olympics.

Alex Morgan paid an honor to the previous generations who paved the way for them to inspire the up-and-coming

Morgan at the 2025 ESPYs - Show - (Source: Getty)

Alex Morgan has not only swept laurels in her 15-year-old career but also garnered eyes to the women's soccer realm with her advocacy and other works beyond the field. At the 2025 ESPYs, she received the Icon Award jointly with Diana Taurasi and discussed how women from previous generations paved the way for them to address the challenges in women's sports.

"We're standing on the shoulders of giants. And this is a huge tribute to them as much as to us. So to the women before us, it's because of you that we never had to apologize for speaking up or for fighting to raise the bar. It's because of you that we were able to be an Olympian businesswoman and a mom. It's because of you that we have no limits. "

Morgan has two children, Charlie and Enzo, who were born five years apart.

About the author

Agnijeeta is a US Olympics journalist at Sportskeeda. She holds a Master’s degree in English and has worked as a school teacher, a blogger, a content writer and a sports writer over the past 5 years. A lover of high-adrenaline track and field events, she was also a sprinter during her school days.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone happens to be her favorite Olympian, and the athlete’s feat of breaking four records within 13 months inspires her, apart from the American's body language on and off the track. Grant Hackett swimming with a partially dysfunctional lung and winning gold in Athens is her all-time favorite Olympic moment.

Agnijeeta believes that deriving of unique angles from podcasts and interviews carried out by Olympics.com, along with hype-building of potential Olympic events on social media can help fill the coverage gap during the off season.

When not at her work desk, Agnijeeta likes to sing and paint. She also plays string instruments like guitar and ukulele and is an avid player of word puzzles.

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Edited by Agnijeeta Majumder