Alex Morgan and her husband, Servando Carrasco,
are the ultimate sports power couple, but
making a marriage between soccer stars work
is no easy feat especially when it becomes
a long-distance romance.
Here's what you don't know about these athletes'
world-class relationship.
Long distance love
It's never easy being away from the one you
love, but that's the reality Alex Morgan faced
after her husband was drafted by the LA Galaxy
in 2018.
Carrasco was forced to move from their Winter
Park, Florida home to the other side of the
country.
The pair now makes the marriage work from
more than 2,500 miles apart.
For Morgan, the realization that her husband
was moving to the West Coast was disappointing.
In an Instagram post, she said contending
with the distance would be one of her biggest
challenges in 2018.
"What was the hardest is just us expecting
to live together and to kind of share our
lives together here in Orlando.
Unfortunately, that didn't happen."
While having a long distance marriage is difficult,
this couple has had a lot of practice for
it.
As Morgan put it to the Orlando Sentinel,
“With the national team, I’m away for
a couple weeks at a time, all the time.
So we’ve gotten used to that."
There's also a light at the end of the tunnel,
since the pros don't expect to be playing
soccer forever.
They hope to lead a more traditional lifestyle
once they retire from the sport.
Carrasco told Pro Soccer USA,
"It's far from ideal to be that far from your
wife, [but] we know that this is temporary.
We're only going to be able to play professional
soccer for five to six more years.
We've got to take advantage of this, and know
that when we're done playing we're going to
be together."
Connecting in college
Alex and Servando have been together since
they met at U.C.
Berkeley as freshmen.
A whole lot has happened since then a gold
medal, two FIFA Women's World Cup wins, a
wedding, and a cross-country move.
Though Morgan became the youngest member of
the U.S. Women's National Team when she joined
during her senior year of college, she wasn't
exactly a star athlete when she first met
the love of her life.
Carrasco told MLS Soccer that Morgan was,
quote, "very raw" during her early college
career.
But the potential for greatness was always
there.
Carrasco said,
"Clearly, she had the athletic ability.
She was the fastest player on the team.
She had an amazing left foot.
She could strike a ball on a rope.
And then she started to add things to her
game, brick by brick.
She got better tactically, she started watching
more soccer, her first touch got better.
… She's not just a finisher now.
She's not just a person that builds her game
off of her speed or off of her athleticism.
She's always looking for a challenge."
New year, New us
After dating for nearly seven years, Servando
popped the question while the couple was visiting
California's Manhattan Beach during the off-season.
The pair reportedly wed on New Year's Eve
2014 in front of about 180 guests in Santa
Barbara, California.
Talk about a great way to kick off a new year!
According to People, Morgan wore two dresses:
a Berta Bridal gown for the ceremony and a
shorter custom Amsale dress for the reception.
The couple danced to Jack Johnson's "Better
Together," enjoyed a Mexican-style spread
with a quesadilla bar and churros, and then
held a balloon drop at midnight to kick off
the new year.
All in all, it seemed like such a lovely,
normal wedding that you'd never guess Morgan
was a gold-medal Olympian with an international
profile and her own kids' movie.
"You're Alex Morgan.
I know everything about you.
I'm your biggest fan."
After the wedding, Morgan told People,
"We are both so happy, grateful and excited
to start our lives together as Mr. and Mrs.
Carrasco.
I truly married my best friend."
No competition
When two professional footballers tie the
knot, you might assume there's a fair amount
of competition.
But Morgan and Carrasco don't waste their
time competing with each other at home they
save it all for the pitch.
Though Morgan's credentials are undeniably
impressive, including World Cup wins, a gold
medal, and a slot on Time magazine's list
of the 100 most influential people in the
world, Carrasco doesn't love his wife because
she's a soccer superstar.
Instead, he loves her just for being her.
He told MLS Soccer,
"I'm not competing with her.
I love her for the person she is, and what
she accomplishes is almost secondary to that.
Of course, I'm proud of her, there's no doubt
about it."
Of course, her accomplishments do make her
interesting company to have in the family.
Servando said,
"When my nieces talk to her and they look
up to her, that's as good as it gets.
I mean, the soccer stuff, yeah, for sure,
cool.
But to see her on the '100 Most Influential
in the World' in Time magazine?
I'm like, damn.
She's making a difference."
The one red flag
You'd think that a husband and wife who spend
their days on separate coasts playing soccer
would spend a lot of time talking shop about
the sport, but Carrasco and Morgan try to
keep their professional and personal lives
as separate as they can.
Though Carrasco admitted to Pro Soccer USA
that they enjoy watching games together, at
a certain point, the couple opted to prioritize
their marriage above all else.
Carrasco told MLS Soccer,
"At first, we were talking about games and
stuff.
You know, like, 'Oh, you should probably do
this, probably do that.'
And now I think the marriage is more important.
We kind of keep soccer separate."
In the event that one of them does want to
discuss their play, Carrasco said he falls
into more of a supportive role, though Morgan
certainly appreciates his insight.
Carrasco admitted to MLS Soccer that the one
thing they won't ever do is tell each other
when they've played poorly.
He said,
"That stuff wouldn't be good for our relationship.
She has a lot of people that do that for her,
and I have a lot of people who do that for
me.
Last thing I want is to hear it from the person
I love."
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