U.S. WNT forward Alex Morgan scored the first and fourth goal in the team’s 4-0 victory over Canada.The official player of the game added two assists, and the U.S. Women’s National Team win in front of a sold-out crowd of 25,427 at BC Place took the championship of the 2012 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
Both teams sealed their berths to the 2012 London Olympics with semifinal wins last Friday, but still brought their A Game in front of a CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying-record crowd.
U.S. head coach Pia Sundhage was asked if Alex Morgan earned a starting spot with her performance…
“If we play tomorrow, I’d say yes. But when we go to the Algarve Cup, I don’t know. But she bought something special today with Abby. We had an air presence and with her speed on top it made us look really good today.”
Pundhage talked about the very dominant trip through Canada.
“I look at the tournament and we are winners. That is important. It’s great to feel the gold. If you look at Canada, I’m not caught up in that. It’s more how we play, how we play in the midfield and that we were able to shut down Sinclair”
Alex Morgan talked about sitting out the game against Mexico and making an impact against Costa Rica and Canada…”I didn’t have a great first two games and didn’t impact the game like I would have liked to. It was right to play Syd [Leroux], who had scored five goals the game before. Emotionally I was mad and of course I think every player wants to play. It motivated me even more to play in these next two games.”
Morgan was asked if her performance warrants a place in the starting lineup…
“I’m not sure if I really stated my case but I knew this was an opportunity that was given to me. I tried to make the most of it and I feel really comfortable with Abby up top. The defense did a tremendous job today and throughout the entire tournament. They really led us through to this final.”
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