Alex Morgan and Lindsey Horan will co-captain the U.S. women’s national team at the 2023 World Cup, and formally step into the leadership void created by an injury to Becky Sauerbrunn.
Sauerbrunn had been the team’s captain and revered defensive leader for multiple years, but a foot injury kept her off the World Cup roster, and left her and teammates heartbroken.
In her absence, Morgan, a 34-year-old forward, and Horan, a 29-year-old midfielder, will share Sauerbrunn’s duties. When they’re both on the field — which they often will be — Horan will wear the captain’s armband, U.S. Soccer said in a Friday announcement.
Horan, on the surface, is a semi-surprising choice. She’s played at major international tournaments, but hasn’t starred at them. She has far less experience, in every which way, than Morgan and Megan Rapinoe — who co-captained the team in 2019, when they won a second consecutive title.
But Horan has captained the team nine times since the fall of 2021, when head coach Vlatko Andonovski elevated her into a more senior role. “Ever since, she has grown into the role of a leader, and has done a tremendous job,” Andonovski said late last month.
“When you look at the group that we have now, Lindsey, Rose [Lavelle], Crystal [Dunn], that’s the next generation of leaders in this environment,” Andonovski continued. “Because all the other ones are a lot younger, less experienced.” From that group, Andonovski hand-picked Horan. It’s unclear whether Dunn was seriously considered.
But he chose to re-elevate Morgan as well, likely in hopes that the longtime USWNT veteran will shoulder certain burdens. Horan, according to teammates, is a leader-by-example. She’s neither vocal nor publicly outspoken. Morgan is a much more eager and confident public speaker. In that sense, the two co-captains are a perfect yin-yang match.
Morgan said late Friday that the co-captaincy setup will allow the two to share burdens. When asked how the captain choice was made, she said it was “Vlatko’s decision.”
Rapinoe, meanwhile, is still on the roster, but is no longer a starter. She told Yahoo Sports late last month that she’s made a “concerted effort” to cede the spotlight to the next generation. She and Morgan are still the unofficial faces and voices of the team, but a changing of the guard is underway.
