Tottenham Hotspur striker Alex Morgan netted her second goal for the club on Sunday afternoon in their 3-1 victory over Aston Villa in the Women’s Super League - but has admitted she had reservations about resuming her career so soon after giving birth.
The World Cup winner made the move to England just under five months after having her daughter Charlie.
“I think the doubts were before I got pregnant,” the American said in a recent interview with Mollie and Rosie Kmita on the FA Player. “Whether I was going to be able to come back and play at this level.
“But I had seen so many players do it in the past, so it’s not like I was the first one.”
Morgan announced her move back in September but didn’t make her debut until November 7, where she came on as a substitute in their 1-1 draw at home to Reading.
There had been plenty of anticipation in the month leading up to her first appearance and all eyes were on her when she replaced Rianna Dean on 70 minutes.
“In normal times, I feel like I would have felt the pressure,” she said. “But because I was coming back from pregnancy and with the pandemic, which delayed me playing even longer after giving birth, I tried as much as I could to just not think about the pressure too much and not put any additional expectations on myself.”
The 31-year-old has featured in every league game since and she scored from the penalty spot in both of Tottenham’s wins against Brighton and Villa.
“In general, 2020 has been bizarre so it was really nice actually to be home and be able to be a mum for a few months and not think about rushing off to do this or that,” she continued.
“That’s why when the opportunity presented itself to move to another country, a lot of people probably thought I was crazy for doing it but I was ready because I had expected to be on the move six weeks after having Charlie, but it was a few months after.”
Spurs currently sit eighth in the WSL table following a good run of form in recent weeks as the team get used to life under new manager Rehanne Skinner.
But tougher tests are yet to come for Morgan as they begin preparations to face WSL champions Chelsea on Sunday in a huge London derby.
