As the game clock ticked to the 13th minute in Snapdragon Stadium on Sunday, Alex Morgan, surrounded by her San Diego Wave FC teammates, began to untie her boots. She slowly removed her cleats, tearfully waving to a packed crowd, now all on their feet as the American soccer legend exited the field for the final time in her professional career. The moment marked the end of a storied career. Morgan announced her retirement from professional soccer just days before San Diego’s match against the North Carolina Courage after revealing she is pregnant with her second child.
It’s a tall task to distill such an impactful and illustrious career into a single story or isolated achievement. One image, however, has endured as an emblem of Morgan’s influence on the sport.
In June 2019, the U.S. women’s national team faced off against England in the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup semifinal in Lyon, France. The two teams were ensnared in a tight battle, with the score knotted at 1–1 early in the first half. Then, in the 31st minute, Morgan dashed into the box, rising to get her head on a lofted ball from Lindsey Horan. Morgan almost seemed to float as the ball whipped against the back of the net, making the eventual game-winner in a World Cup semifinal somehow look effortless.
Arms outstretched, with a smile drawn across her face, Morgan darted toward the touchline, before pausing. Her grin made way for a cheekier expression, as the USWNT forward brought her hand, with her pinky up, to her mouth. Morgan mimed sipping from a teacup before her U.S. teammates swarmed her in celebration. The sip, though lasting only a split-second, made waves, with many interpreting the gesture as a reference to the two nations’ history. Morgan, however, maintained it was an ode to actress Sophie Turner, who at the time on social media, would frequently use the expression, “and that’s the tea." Whatever the meaning, intended or construed, the photo of her celebration has since been imbued with a broader significance, as so often is the case with iconic sports imagery.
The tea celebration is a fitting portrait of the 2019 era of the USWNT, with the likes of Morgan, Megan Rapinoe and Kelley O’Hara helping to cultivate a bold and brash winning culture. Some called the squad arrogant, but really the group was audacious and confident, and almost always backed up that mentality with results. In that very World Cup tournament, the USWNT players had to contend with the sitting President of the United States disparaging a member of their team, all the while competing with the ongoing fight for equal pay looming over their heads. Still, the USWNT performed on the biggest stage under harsh scrutiny, charging to a title in a dominant and unapologetic fashion, mirrored in Morgan’s defiant pose.
“The tea sip celebration was like ultimate confidence, trollery, just like funny,” Rapione said on an episode of her podcast, A Touch More, calling it her favorite Morgan moment. “There must have been a ton of conversation around that game of who's better and I am sure they threw some shade and then she threw the ultimate shade.”
A player with Morgan’s bona fides may be the only person who could pull off such a mic drop of goal celebration. She has an Olympic gold medal and two World Cup titles to her name, scoring 123 goals in 223 caps with the USWNT. Morgan also claimed the 2022 NWSL Golden Boot award, nine years after winning the league championship—a testament to the long arc of her career.
Her achievements on the field are of course matched by an impressive wattage off the pitch. Morgan served as the face of American women’s soccer for years, drawing eyeballs to the sport as a crossover star and paving the way for increased sponsorship opportunities. She used that notoriety to advance investment and improve conditions for players, with Morgan playing a critical role in achieving equal pay for the USWNT and securing protections for NWSL players, including the league’s anti-harassment policy.
The tea-sipping—Morgan surely couldn't have imagined that it would take on such a life of its own—somehow encompasses much of the 35-year-old’s feats. She was often marketed and presented as poised and composed—compare Morgan’s contained pinkies up to Rapinoe’s expansive ta-da celebration at the same World Cup. But underneath Morgan’s measured exterior is a sharper edge, a smashmouth competitor and a disruptor of the women’s soccer landscape.
Morgan’s lasting image joins a series of photographs that have been used to carve out the lineage of the USWNT. Brandi Chastain’s euphoric shirt tear exemplifies the boundary-breaking of the 99ers. Abby Wambach’s snow angel embodies a prolific and abundant run amid lacking infrastructure. And Rapinoe and Morgan’s 2019 celebrations showcase a golden USWNT generation who weren’t merely content with the status quo and were bold enough to ruffle feathers and push for more, not just for themselves but for the players who are next to don the crest.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Alex Morgan’s Tea Sip Celebration Embodies Her USWNT Legacy.