Getty Alex Morgan
Alex Morgan, star of the U.S. Women’s National Team, is not only a key player helping bring her team to another FIFA World Cup Championship Final in 2019, she’s one of the most recognizable faces in the entire sport. And as synonymous with the No. 13 on her jersey, the signature pink head the 30-year-old power forward rocks while playing on the field.
Not only has Morgan been wearing the hair accessory during every game of the 2019 FIFA World Cup, she had it on her head at the 2012 and 2016 Olympic games, as well as during the 2011 and 2015 World Cups. While numerous of her teammates switch up the color and style of their headbands, which is actually made of pre-wrap, a sticky thin material made of foam material, the secret to why it remains so secure on the athletes’ heads, Morgan sticks to pink. And while players like Julie Ertz like to keep it thick and flat, Morgan always rolls hers into perfectly thin band.
The reason Morgan chose pink stems from when she first started dating her now husband, L.A. Galaxy star Servando Carrasco. While the soccer power couple officially tied the knot in 2014, after meeting in college, they dated for seven years before walking down the aisle.
While Morgan was a sophomore at University of California at Berkley, she put on a pink pre-wrap for games to show support to her mother-in-law, Gloria Carrasco, who was diagnosed with Stage III breast cancer in 2006. According to MLS, Gloria survived a lumpectomy, chemotherapy, and radiation, but two years later, was diagnosed with a form of uterine cancer.
However, this story has a happy ending. Morgan’s mother-in-law went on beat both forms of cancer.In 2016, Carrasco said of his mother, “Every day, I just try to be like her. She is kind, generous and compassionate, but she is also incredibly strong and independent. She is simply the most selfless person I have ever met.”
Wearing pink has brought Morgan luck both off the field and on. During her 2019 World Cup run, No. 13 already clocked in six goals for the American soccer team.