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Dec. 21 (UPI) -- United States Women's National Team star Alex Morgan will return to the National Women's Soccer League's Orlando Pride next year after spending the first half of the 2020-21 season with the Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Women's Super League. Morgan announced in September that she was joining Tottenham on a short-term loan deal. She made her first competitive appearance since giving birth to her daughter, Charlie, on Nov. 7 in a 1-1 draw against Reading.
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The USWNT standout made five appearances for Tottenham and scored two goals.
"I will be forever grateful to the club, my teammates and Spurs supporters for taking such good care of me and my family," Morgan said in a statement Monday. "From the moment I arrived in London, I realized I was part of a first-class organization, one that helped provide me the opportunity to immerse myself back into the game I love.
"Thank you to everyone who helped make this chapter in my soccer journey so special."
Morgan had a clause in her contract with Tottenham that would have allowed her to remain with the club until the end of the 2020-21 WSL season. The 31-year-old Morgan, however, said in October that she was anxious to help the NWSL grow and didn't envision herself staying overseas for more than a year.
"I think that after pregnancy I needed to get as many games in as possible leading to 2021 knowing that the Olympics will hopefully be on next year," Morgan said.
"I wanted to make sure to put myself in the best position possible to get ready for that and I thought that competing in one of the best leagues in the world right now while it started back up after lockdown was the best option for me. Joining Spurs was important to me because it's such a good organization."
Morgan has amassed 170 caps at the international level and helped guide the U.S. women's team to the gold medal at the 2012 Olympics. Morgan and the USWNT also won the last two FIFA World Cup titles, including last year's victory in France.
