U.S. Forward Alex Morgan Out For 3-4 Weeks After Undergoing Knee Surgery

On Friday, U.S. women’s national team forward Alex Morgan underwent arthroscopic surgery on her right knee. According to SI Wire, Morgan, who plays for the Portland Thorns FC, her home club, is expected to be sidelined for up to a month. U.S. Soccer said that Morgan could end up returning in August when the U.S. kicks off a 10-game victory tour. It is possible that Morgan will be able to join the team for the entire set of games, with the first one being a match against Costa Rica.

According to Fox Sports, Morgan went in for surgery to have a small fold in the knee joint’s lining removed as it was causing the soccer star irritation. Morgan will begin rehabilitation very soon.

A few months ago, Morgan suffered a knee contusion, but she played through it during the World Cup, which the U.S. won after defeating Japan in the championship match. The final score was 5-2, and across seven matches in the tournament, Alex Morgan ended up logging 434 minutes and five starts. Morgan also scored the winning goal in the quarterfinal match against Colombia.

According to NBC Sports, Paul Riley, the Thorns coach, said that Alex wouldn’t be ready for the team’s home game on July 22. The team will be playing against Seattle, and the game is expected to sellout with 21,000 fans in attendance.

Leading up to the World Cup, Alex Morgan was asked about her knee which she was paying special attention to during her workouts, and she said that her knee was doing good. Morgan added that she was doing a lot better. At that time, Morgan appeared confident that she was going to be ready to go on June 8, which was when the U.S. played their first game of the World Cup tournament, which was against Australia. Team U.S. ended up winning that match, with the final score reading 3-1.

Over the last two years, Morgan has been subjected to a number of layoffs. Earlier in the year, Morgan ended up missing two months due to a bone bruise in her knee. Back in October 2014, a sprained ankle caused Morgan to miss four months of competitive action. She was also forced out of action for about seven months in 2013, but returned in June 2014.

Alex Morgan has made 91 appearances for the U.S. team, and has scored more than 50 goals throughout those appearances. In U.S. history, Morgan was the third fastest player to score 50 goals, and she only needed 64 matches to reach that number.

[Photo By Jason Merritt/Getty Images]