WOMEN'S WORLD CUP 2023
Alex Morgan defends Spanish players who are ‘standing up for themselves and future generations’
The USWNT player spoke about the Spanish National Team as well as other disputes across the world of women’s football.
Alex Morgan has spoken ahead of the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand about the progress in women’s football and has given her opinion on the players who are set to miss the showpiece tournament for various reasons regarding equal treatment and improved facilities.
The San Diego Wave player was present at a media event in which mentioned the ongoing situation with the Spanish Women’s National Team, where 15 players wrote to the Federation (RFEF) asking not to be selected by manager Jorge Vilda, citing “mental health” reasons. Some of the players, after a series of negotiations with the RFEF, have since returned to the setup ahead of the tournament down under.
Alex Morgan on the USWNT:
Morgan says Spain players ‘standing up for future generations’
Morgan spoke about the Spain team and the notable absentees such as Patri Guijarro, MVP of the UWCL Final, and Mapi León, considered to be the world’s best centre-back: “I mean, if you look at Spain, there’s some players who should absolutely be in this World Cup that are not going to the World Cup due to the inequalities of their team and standing up for themselves and the future generations of their sport.”
The USWMNT go into the World Cup as the most successful team in the tournament’s history (4 wins) looking to win a third-consecutive trophy, after being successful in both 2015 in Canada (beating Japan 5-2) and 2019 in France (beating the Netherlands 2-0).
‘There’s still a lot of teams fighting for equal conditions’
Morgan commented on the changes that have happened since their last crowning as World Champions: “Our team is in a way different space than we were going into the 2019 World Cup, having achieved equal pay and equal prize money, equal working conditions, but it’s not just us. We’re fighting it, there’s still a lot of teams fighting for it.”
“I think the increase in competition of the leagues around the world is creating more parity within the international game”, Morgan continued, “you look at England, France, even Liga in Mexico, the NWSL, Sweden. There’s so many leagues around the world that are paying players more, that are playing more often throughout the season and that are treating players in a professional way that we’ve been fighting for for a long time.”
Alex Morgan comments on the global appeal of women’s football
Finally, the San Diego Wave star commented on the growing global appeal of women’s football (over 72,000 fans filled the Camp Nou for Barcelona’s UWCL win over Chelsea this season): “I think that this World Cup is going to be the most watched, it’s going to be the most attended, it’s going to bring in the most revenue that we’ve ever seen.
“I think you’re starting to see FIFA respect that and value women’s soccer way more than we’ve seen before”, she said, echoing her comments from April. “I think that that puts a lot of pressure on sponsors, on federations, on everybody in the soccer world to recognise and embrace that. I think that this World Cup is just going to be another testament to the growth of women’s soccer, and I believe Australia and New Zealand are going to put on a great show.”
The Women’s World Cup begins on July 20.