Quotes from Alex Morgan

I feel like when there's more on the line and there's more risks, that means there's more reward.

I could always score goals. I loved that feeling of having your team look to you, that feeling of leadership.

Pregame, I eat pancakes for a meal. I always do mental visualization before the game to prepare myself. Postgame, I typically take ice baths.

I really try to take a step back from the soccer world and going a thousand miles an hour every day. I like to do some sort of either meditation or mental visualization or breathing exercises - something to calm my mind down because a lot of times, it's just going faster than it should.

Even when I'm training alone, I always prefer doing soccer-related stuff. On my own, I'll run through cones or do some shooting exercises or pass the ball against the wall.

The head-banging music gives me a headache. Katy Perry is fun, Rihanna, old-school '90s hip-hop. Salt-N-Pepa. I like listening to that. Get the nerves out before the games.

I'm not gonna sugarcoat it: It sucks to lose sometimes.

I start warming up before training an hour before at the hotel. That's not because I feel old and my body needs it. It's because it's prehab. It's preventing those injuries.

I have done 'Sports Illustrated, ' but I don't regret it because it portrayed me in a positive way - as an athlete.

Keep working even when no one is watching.

People know there's more than one side to me. You can have beauty and brains and athletic ability. You can switch up the cleats for heels once in a while. You can do both.

I have a couple of go-to sneakers off the pitch. I like to have shoes that I can slip on and wear with anything. I travel often, so it's about finding those two or three pairs of shoes that can go with any outfit, whether they go with leggings or a skirt or a dress or jeans.

I don't really have many regrets. I did miss a lot of the events in the days leading up to my sister's wedding because I was at a U17 camp. There were moments like that growing up when I felt like I focused too much on soccer. But that's probably the reason I am where I am today.

With me and Portland, it wasn't moving anywhere. I wasn't given a bigger role as I played more and more with the club. I felt I could have been utilized in a bigger way.

Once I got to college, I realized that practicing 3-6 days wasn't going to be enough for me to get where I wanted.

I feel like you have to use the platform you're given to voice concerns and also to praise things when they need to be praised.

When I prepare for a match, it's like work, even the way I have to shower and put on my makeup.

When I play on grass, my body doesn't ache. It can get sore, but it doesn't pulse, and my legs don't ache. When I play on turf, my legs can pulse and ache for up to 24 hours, and it could take 3-5 days to recover, whereas grass, after 24 hours, I'm ready to play again.

I don't want to say names, but there are certain companies I won't work with because of previous people they've worked with. I don't want to be put in the same category as another athlete that I don't necessarily think is a good role model.

I wasn't the most technical player. But I was fast, and if I push the ball past a player, I can get there. Everyone always made fun of me in a good way for that.

When people say, 'You run like a girl; you play like a girl,' it's not what it used to be. That shouldn't be negative. You should be proud to play like a girl.

I don't think the entire world respects women in sport. But if FIFA start respecting the women's game more, others will follow.

Sportsmanship is definitely an important thing in all sports. In soccer, we all respect each other on such a high level, between Sweden and Brazil and Japan or whatever team it is.

I would like to win the Ballon d'Or for women. But every top professional should have that ambition.