U.S. women's national team star Alex Morgan announced on Monday that she won't play again this year as she tries to take care of a knee problem that has bothered her since the World Cup.
Morgan, 30, made the announcement on Instagram, calling an end to her season with the Orlando Pride of the NWSL.
"This year has had the highest of highs but along with that comes challenges and sometimes even falling short of my goals I set for myself in 2019," Morgan wrote.
"I'm disappointed I won't be able to compete with the Pride for the remainder of 2019 due to a knee injury I've been managing since the World Cup, and that I can't be there to help my teammates and my club have more success.
"I have already started physical therapy in LA and am eager to get back on the field doing what I love."
Morgan didn't offer any details about her injury, but the Pride, in a news release, said she had "a patella stress reaction in her right knee," stemming from the injury while with the USWNT.
“It’s obviously difficult to lose a player of Alex’s caliber due to injury,” Pride GM Erik Ustruck said in a statement. “However, after consulting with the (c)lub’s medical team at Orlando Health and U.S. Soccer, we felt it was in the best interest of Alex’s long-term health to shut her down for the season to focus on the rehabilitation process and take the appropriate time to recover from the lingering knee injury.”
The striker has been nursing the injury since she was substituted for during Team USA's group game against Sweden at the World Cup in June.
She returned to play in the remaining games of the tournament, won by the U.S., even scoring a goal in a semifinal victory over England.
She played six games with the Pride this season, four before the World Cup and two since.
Morgan has a history of knee injuries, having suffered a torn ACL as a teen in high school and also undergoing keyhole surgery on her right knee in 2015.
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