ORLANDO, Fla. – Two of the most prolific goal-scorers in women’s soccer have joined forces under a purple banner in Central Florida. But this isn’t the first time Marta Vieira da Silva and Alex Morgan have played together. Back in 2011, in Morgan’s rookie season, the Brazilian and American played for the Western New York Flash. It was a short-lived experience, though, that was impeded by international duties and more veteran players.
Now, the two have reunited with the Orlando Pride to create one of the most potent attacks in the National Women’s Soccer League.
“My first pro season was really difficult because we were going through the 2011 World Cup, so I think that I was probably available for 10 of the 20 games we played in season,” Morgan said after training on Aug. 23. “So, it wasn’t that many. Marta was being away [for] Brazil as well. And we had some amazing players. We had Christine Sinclair, also, in the front line, so I felt like, just in general, it was a lot more difficult to play with Marta and Christine Sinclair just in the sense that I don’t think I had the soccer knowledge I do have now.
“So, I feel like we started fresh. I mean, it’s been over six years [since] we’ve played together, so we started off fresh, and I felt like it just clicked pretty quickly, and it’s been amazing.”
Marta and Morgan are each scoring at league-best rates. With four games to go in the regular season, both players are top five in goals scored. Marta is third with 11, and Morgan is fifth with eight.
Scoring isn’t all both players have done this season, though. So far this season, Marta has recorded the second-most assists in the league with six. As for Morgan, in far fewer games than last season, she has recorded two assists compared to last year’s one.
For the Brazilian, she had high praise for Morgan in their first season together in Orlando.
“The fact that Alex always does her best is great and give us a lot of confidence knowing that we can create as many chances as we can,” Marta said, translated from Portuguese, after training on Aug. 30. “And she will fight for every single ball. She’s always there. She believes that every single ball is possible, so that makes our work even better knowing that we can fight hard and do whatever we can to get her the ball, and then she will always be there and try to score.”
The duo’s connection shined most recently in the 87th minute of a 2-1 win over FC Kansas City. On a free kick from the right sideline, Marta sent a ball into the near post to Morgan, who made a leaping effort to back-heel the ball in for the game-winner.
Fav this one. You’ll want to show it to your kids when they grow up. #BOSS
1-2 | #KCvORL pic.twitter.com/E5JBM0zX1v
— Orlando Pride (@ORLPride) August 26, 2017
Pride head coach Tom Sermanni has seen the connection between the two renew and flourish. The connection between Marta and Morgan have not only made the two stars better, but Sermanni also sees his other attackers producing more because of his stars.
“I would say [Marta and Morgan’s relationship] had to be renewed. You go back to 2011. That’s a long time,” Sermanni said after training on Aug. 16. “Probably a different style of football to what we play. So, you know, that’s one of those things where we say you need time to build up these things…and, you know, if you look at the last two games, they’re really, very much on the same page.
“And then what that does is that fosters other sort of relationships around those two, and if you see that now with Jas Spencer the other night. So, it looks like all the players are on the same page and in the same rhythm. So that’s what we’re beginning to see now, and, as I say, with Marta and Alex being able to do that, we’ve got a really potent strike force.”
Sermanni is now seeing the fruits of his team’s labor, as his team has asserted itself as one of the top goal-scoring teams in the league. With 37 goals this season, the Pride are second in the NWSL in scoring. After Marta and Morgan’s 19 goals, the Pride have enjoyed four goals from midfielder Camila Martins Pereira and three goals each from forwards Chioma Ubogagu and Spencer, and midfielder Alanna Kennedy.
Midfielder Dani Weatherholt, center-back Toni Pressley and rookie forward Rachel Hill also scored their first-ever goals this season.
For Morgan, she attributes her recent form, in which she’s more than doubled her goals total in fewer games, to her teammates on the Pride’s second-year roster.
“I just think that the support players, you know, throughout the team, is much better this year. You know, we have Alanna, who has her first year here. Camila, Ali Krieger, Marta — I mean, these are a significant amount of our players, so it’s just a different team, to be honest,” Morgan said. “I think, for just for me, I’ve gotten such great service. I mean, I’m not a player that’s gonna take on five defenders. I’m a player that’s gonna look in behind or maybe take one defender faced up or finish my few chances that I have in front of goal, and that doesn’t come without great service.”
Marta and Morgan look to continue to lead the Pride into the playoffs with a home match against the Boston Breakers on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Orlando has won the previous two meetings this season by a combined scored of 4-1.
For more on the Pride, as they look to solidify a playoff spot with four matches remaining in the regular season, follow Victor Tan on Twitter at @NDR_VictorTan.
