Morgan has assumed a more vocal role for U.S. women

MONTERREY, Mexico (AP) — As the U.S. national team has focused on developing young talent in anticipation of next summer's World Cup, veteran forward Alex Morgan has assumed a more vocal role.

Morgan, 33, is now one of the more senior members of the team, which has brought in budding players like fellow forwards Sophia Smith, Mallory Pugh, and Trinity Rodman since the Tokyo Olympics.

“The younger players can hold their own. They’ve been doing amazing. I think the one thing that I would say I definitely have increased this tournament is vocally on the field, like helping players with positioning, set pieces, the things that this team takes pride in, the mentality, kind of just helping push players along a little bit,” she said.

Morgan and the defending World Cup champions are in Mexico preparing for a showdown with rival Canada on Monday night in the title game of the CONCACAF W Championship.

The United States and Canada have already qualified for next summer's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand as top finishers at the tournament. But the winner of the final also earns one of the region's berths at the 2024 Olympics in France.

Morgan is not slowing down by any means, as evidenced by her fantastic club season so far. She is back home in California, in her first season playing for the expansion San Diego Wave, and currently leads the National Women's Soccer League with 11 goals in just 10 games.

At the W Championship, Morgan scored a pair of goals against Haiti in the group stage, for her 29th career multi-goal game. She has scored 21 goals in 22 qualification matches with the United States, third-most in team history. Overall, she has 117 goals and 47 assists in 195 career games.

“Alex has World Cup medals,