Alex, Stand Up and Walk

 Alex, Stand Up and Walk

A tribute to a forward who never just scored goals  she changed the game.

I met her in 2011, on the southern edge of Portugal.

The Algarve sun was strong, but she burned brighter.

Europe didn’t know her yet, but I saw the spark.

This is a tribute to Alex Morgan  for her goals,

but more so for her leadership, her legacy,

and her voice that still guides a generation rising.

There’s a moment I will never forget. Algarve, 2011.

The sun was scorching the pitch, but my eyes were elsewhere.

A young woman. Light-footed. Eyes ablaze.

A name Europe barely whispered.

Alex Morgan.

She stood up. And she started walking.

The world followed  slowly, hesitantly. But she led.

Not as a princess in white,

but as a lighthouse in fog.

She didn’t wait for a crown she claimed her place,

match after match, tournament after tournament.

Some goals are just goals.

But others last forever.

Like that header at Old Trafford 

the 122nd minute against Canada.

You rose, as if gravity paused to admire you.

It was more than a goal.

It was a declaration.

And years later, in Lyon,

you scored again 

then brought an imaginary teacup to your lips.

Not mockery, but poise.

You didn’t reply to critics 

you redefined celebration

when a woman is that sure of herself.

The world fell silent.

Because you showed what unapologetic confidence looks like.

And now?

Maybe the field is behind you.

Or so it seems.

Maybe the boots are hung,

but your footprints still glow in the grass.

Alex,

we still need you.

Not for goals,

but for direction.

We live in a time where young girls dare to dream

because you made it possible.

They know your name from highlights, medals, moments.

But do they know why you walked?

Do they know nothing came easy?

That you fought for every inch?

That you kept the flame burning when it threatened to fade?

You were more than a forward.

You were an idea.

And ideas don’t retire

when the final whistle blows.

So I say now,

as an Argentinian journalist once wrote about Maradona:

Alex, stand up and walk.

Not for the scoreboard.

Not for the stats.

But for the story.

For the generation now rising,

that must know whose shoulders they stand on.

We owe you no goodbye.

We owe you recognition.

And a place in the wind,

where voices still echo.

Walk, Alex.

As a guide.

As a mirror.

As the woman who started in the Algarve 

and showed the world how a diamond gleams

by simply daring to walk.

She doesn't need to step on the field to shine anymore.

The path she carved still glows.

And if you look closely, you still see her rise 

like in that 122nd minute,

or sipping tea in 2019.

Above all. Beyond all.