1. InternationalUAE C5C4
Gulf News | Saturday, September 6, 2014 | gulfnews.comgulfnews.com | Saturday, September 6, 2014 | Gulf News
Morgan’s Beautiful Game
US national star eager to promote women’s football in the uae and beyond
Dubai
F
ootballers are routinely
bestowed with animal
or insect monikers to
portray their instinctive
skill or rapacious hun-
ger for goals.
Eusebio, the great Portugal
forward of the 1960s, fully jus-
tified his “Black Panther” nick-
name due to his feline-esque
speed and grace, which led to
him being name the 1965 Euro-
pean Footballer of the Year.
Likewise, Emilio Butrague-
no’s “The Vulture” tag was
equally apposite due this
predatory penalty-box prow-
ess, which yielded 26 goals for
Spain in the 1980s and early
90s.
In the modern era, four-
time Fifa world player of
the year Lionel Messi’s re-
lentless buzzing around the
pitch, making him a ceaseless
headache for opponents, have
led to him being called “The
Flea”.
Perhaps Messi would pre-
fer for people to have chosen a
more flattering creature for his
soubriquet, while the poster girl
of the US women’s football team
Alex Morgan may not be keen
on being called “Baby Horse”.
Yet, despite her nickname
being at odds with her mode-
lesque looks, it could be argued
that being compared to a fledg-
ling filly encapsulates her pace,
power and childlike enthusiasm
for the Beautiful Game.
Like her favourite player
Messi, 2012 Olympic gold med-
allist with the US women’s team
Morgan says football is her life’s
obsession – and that she wants
to be a passionate proponent of
the women’s game when she
retires.
“Do I have passions outside of
football?” she said, in an exclu-
sive interview with Gulf News.
“I don’t have a passion for mu-
sic or many other hobbies. But
I really love the game of soccer;
it’s kind of consumed my whole
life.”
Of her nickname, she
laughed:“Idon’tmindit.Ithink
one of my teammates gave me
that because I was baby on the
team and I kind of galloped like
a horse with my running style.
“I guess it sums up my atti-
tude to the game. What do I love
about it? When I was younger, I
always loved the exertion I put
my body through in 90 minutes
of the game and kind of the rush
you get when you score a goal.
There’s no other feeling like it;
you can’t replicate that outside
the game and I truly love it.”
Morgan, 25, has made her
name as a prolific striker for the
US national team, for which she
has scored 46 times in 73 inter-
nationals since 2010.
Does she strive to copy any-
one in the men’s game, and who
impressed her at the World Cup
in Brazil?
Admires David Villa
Morgan said she particularly
admires New York City FC’s in-
defatigable striker David Villa,
Spain’s all-time leading goal-
scorer, for his hard work and
goals.
“I also like [Dutch stars] Rob-
in van Persie and [Arjen] Rob-
ben and their relationship,” she
added. “Robben was the fastest
playerduringtheWorldCupand
both those players did so many
good things. I am a big football
fan in general and it was excit-
ing for me to watch the men’s
game and watch the World Cup.
IamaBarcelonafan,butIwatch
leagues around the world on TV
and see things in myself or that
I want to improve on.”
Morgan served notice of her
promise when she was named
the second best player of the
Under-20 World Cup, which the
US won, after scoring four goals.
In 2011, she was a key part of
the US team who were losing
finalists to Japan in the senior
women’s World Cup, scoring
once and providing an assist
to fellow striker Abby Wam-
bach in the final. A year later,
she and her teammates gained
revenge for this defeat by beat-
ing the Japanese to the women’s
football title at the London 2012
Olympics.
Morgan netted three times
during the tournament, includ-
ing a last-gasp, match-winning
goal in the 123rd minute against
Canada in the semi-final at Old
Trafford.
It was a seminal moment
which epitomised all that is
great about football for Morgan.
“Everyone knows the history
behind Old Trafford, so it was
an honour to play in that sta-
dium,” she said. “Many people
on other team thought going to
beat us, but there was just an
aura around us that we knew
that we weren’t going to penal-
ties. When I headed that goal, I
felt this rush of excitement and
relief. It was the most exciting
moment of my career to that
point.”
Morgan, who plays for the
Portland Thorns in the Na-
tional Women’s Soccer League
(NWSL), is now eyeing success
at next year’s Women’s World
Cup in Canada. She said her and
her teammates had started pre-
paring in earnest for the event
since the end of the Olympics
two years ago.
“Ever since 2011, it’s been a
dream of mine to be standing
on top of that podium,” Mor-
gan, who has lent her voice to
a campaign lobbying against
Fifa’s decision to play the World
Cup on artificial turf.
“I don’t want to be looking
up and watching the champions
get their medals.”
Wide horizons
Yet while she shares her hero
Messi’s insatiable lust for glory
and ardour for the world’s most
popular sport, Morgan’s hori-
zonsextendoutsidetheconfines
of the football pitch unlike the
shy Argentinian.
She is motivated by the gran-
diose goal of acting as a global
missionary for women’s football
when she hangs up her boots.
Morgan said: “I’d like to stay
in the game [when I retire] be-
cause I love soccer and I love
everything about it.
“I’d really like to go to coun-
tries where their football feder-
ations don’t really spend much
on their women’s programmes.
It’s not a lot to ask from the fed-
erations.
“I’d like to help gain popular-
ity of female footballers in these
countries and help give female
footballers more opportunity
to play, help them know about
opportunities outside of their
countries.”
Would she be interested in
trying to stoke interest in the
women’s game in the UAE?
“Yeah, that interests me a
lot,” she said. “I’d definitely be
up for that. I think that would
be in the latter part of my career.
“I feel the women’s game
has a lot of potential with the
World Cup increasing from 16
teams to 24 next year. I think
the gap from the US, who are
the number one-ranked side in
the world, to the bottom teams
is now closing. I’d like to help
other countries out and show
them women’s female football-
ers do deserve opportunities.
“I’ve never been to the UAE,
but hopefully in the next couple
of years football will take me
there.”
While women’s football is
routinely derided in many parts
of the world due to the ma-
cho perception of females en-
croaching into male territory, in
the United States it commands
great respect and interest.
Unstinting success
Morgan says the main reason
for this is the unstinting success
the women’s team have enjoyed
since their second World Cup
triumph in 1999 and because
the country’s footballfederation
is investing heavily in the game.
“We are ranked the num-
ber one side in the world and
we have stayed at the top, with
three leagues,” she said. “I am
really appreciative of our fed-
eration and that they give us the
opportunity to play every cou-
ple of months together. That’s
one of the reasons we do really
well at the World Cup.”
She added: “In the US and
around the world, football is
biggest sport most people play.
In the US, it’s the biggest sport
that most youth players play,
then when they get older switch
[to other sports]. Soccer is in-
grained in the youth population,
and with that you have a lot of
mums and dads taking their
kids to watch women’s soccer
players.”
For many male football fans,
Morgan’s lofty aim of help-
ing the women’s game achieve
worldwide recognition may be
wildly unrealistic.
But with her “Messi-anic”
zeal for her sport, talent and
good looks, female footballers
clearly have no better evangelist
preaching their cause.
By Euan Reedie
Deputy Sports Editor
Hou bags Fide
women’s crown
Sharjah
R
eigning world champion
Hou Yifan of China has
officially won the 2013-
2014 Fide Women’s Grand
Prix, despite compatriot Ju
Wenjun grabbing the solo
lead of the final leg after nine
rounds of action at the Shar-
jah Chess Club on Thursday.
Wenjun beat GM Harika
Dronavalli of India to tally
7½ points, half a point ahead
of erstwhile co-leader Hou
Yifan. The two leaders were
teammates in the Chinese
women’s team which came
second in last month’s Chess
Olympiad in Norway.
Wenjun played black and
used the Modern Defence
Averbakh variation. The Chi-
nese launched a kingside
pawn storm and gained con-
trol of the centre file with her
rook.
She rapidly escorted her
passed pawn to the second
rank to threaten promotion.
Dronavalli did not gain coun-
ter-play and had to give up
her Queen for a rook and re-
signed on the 41st move after
nearly four hours of play.
Yifan was held to a draw
by Elina Danielan of Armenia
to trail alone in second with
seven points. Danielan used
a hedgehog pawn formation
with black and reached an
equal rook and pawn end-
game to draw by repetition
of position on the 57th move
after almost six hours of play.
In the post-game press
conference, Hou Yifan
promised to try her best to
catch up and win the Shar-
jah tournament. With two
rounds remaining, Ju Wen-
jun has stronger opposition
against Koneru Humpy and
Tatiana Kosintseva, while
Hou Yifan will face Batch-
imeg Tuvshintugs and cellar
dweller Alina L’ami.
Batchimeg Tuvshintugs
of Mongolia used the Sicil-
ian Defence against Nafisa
Muminova of Uzbekistan. A
flurry of exchanges resulted
in an end-game of opposite
coloured Bishops and they
halved the point on the 40th
move.
Reigning world
champion still trails
Wenjun in Sharjah GP
Staff Report
Dragon-boaters hoping to roar
Four teams from the UAE taking part in growing sport’s world championships
Dubai
U
AE-based water-
sport enthusiasts are
battling it out with
athletes who have
taken part in the
Olympics at the Dragon Boat
World Championships in Rave-
na, northern Italy.
Four teams from the emir-
ate — the Steelcraft Dragons,
the Dubai Flying Dragons, the
Dubai Dragon Warriors and the
Dubai Diggers — are competing
in the event until Sunday.
One of the members of Steel-
craft Dragons, Sarah Bennett,
said she was hopeful that her
and her teammates could emu-
late their bronze medal at the
2012 World Championships in
Hong Kong.
The Englishwoman said: “I
am very confident in my team-
mates, as we have put time and
effort into our preparation and
now we have to go and race
hard and hope it is good enough
to make it back to the podium.”
Some people may perceive
dragon boating, which is a
paddleboat racing sport which
originated in China more than
2,500 years ago, as purely a
recreational activity.
But Bennett, whose team
train at the Dubai Marina Yacht
Club, said it is burgeoning in
popularity, with more than 50
million registered competitors
worldwide and in excess of 100
teams in the UAE.
She said: “Here in the UAE
the dragon boating programme
has been operating under the
authority of the UAE Sailing
and Rowing Federation for over
eight years. Our next domestic
event is on October 17, at the
Shangri La Hotel, Qaryat Al
Beri, Abu Dhabi.
“Like many other sports, it
can be done at a variety of dif-
ferent levels. Almost anyone
with good health is capable of
participating at a recreational
level, but to compete at an elite
level, it requires a completely
different standard of athleti-
cism and commitment. A com-
petitive team such as ours will
train hard for approximately 20
hours per week and have a very
high standard of fitness.
“In the premier division at the
world championships, we will be
competing against elite athletes,
many whom have competed at
the Olympics or other major wa-
ter sport events in the past.”
Bennett encouraged people
to join a club in the UAE, even
if it was for purely recreational
and social purposes.
“The club is comprised of a
broad demographic, that in-
cludes over 20 different nation-
alities and a variety of ages, and
we have a social team and an
elite team,” she said. “Dragon
boating is a very social and in-
clusive activity for both men
and women of any nationality
or religion and it is a great way
to keep fit. Anyone who wishes
to join our social team is wel-
come to come and give it a try.
“There are more demanding
criteria for those who wish to
join our elite team.
“If anyone is interested to
come down and give it a try,
then please contact uaedrag-
onboat@gmail.com or visit
www.dubaidragonboat.com.”
By Euan Reedie
Deputy Sports Editor
Godolphin seeking long-awaited
Turkish delight in Antalia Trophy
Dubai
G
odolphin’s Windohek bids
to secure a maiden Group
race victory when he takes
on four rivals in the €195,500
(Dh930,448) Anatolia Trophy at
Veliefendi, Turkey, today.
Trained by Saeed Bin Surour
at Newmarket, England, the
four-year-old son of Cape Cross
has won five times, including
when successful in a Listed
event at Sandown in July, but is
yet to strike at a higher level.
He was narrowly denied a
Group 2 victory when beaten
by a neck by Sheikhzayedroad
and Secret Gesture in the York
Stakes in July. Bin Surour is
looking for a third victory in
the Turkish highlight follow-
ing wins by Balius in 2009 and
Hunter’s light in 2012.
Previously trained by Mark
Johnston when racing under
the ownership of Shaikh Ham-
dan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid
Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of
Dubai, Windohek’s rivals in-
clude the Luca Cumani-trained
Danadana, who won the race
twelve months ago.
Danadana is owned by Shai-
kh Mohammad Bin Obaid Al
Maktoum, who most famously
won the Epsom Derby (G1) in
1998 with High Rise.
Today’s card also sees Bin
Surour’s Maktoum Challenge
Round 1 (G2) and Burj Nahaar
(G3) scorer Shuruq vie for hon-
ours in the Istanbul Trophy (G3)
over 1,600 metres on grass.
Shrurq faces six opponents
among them Godolphin’s
French-trained filly Danc-
ing Sands, who is prepared by
Henri-Alex Pantall at his base
in Beaupreau, close to Nantes.
The race has also attracted the
Mark Johnston-trained Kosika,
who runs in the colours of World
Equestrian Games endurance
gold medallist Shaikh Hamdan.
Tomorrow’s action features
two interesting Group 2 contests
on turf, the International Topka-
pi Trophy over 1,600 metres and
the 2,400-metre Bosphorus Cup.
Strong cards
Bin Surour relies on Group 2
Dubai City of Gold scorer Ex-
cellent Result to give him a sec-
ond successive victory in the
race after Lost In The Moment
came from last to first under to
win the Cup last year.
One of the highlights of to-
morrow’s card is the President
of the UAE Cup Malazgirt for
Purebred Arabians.
The Jean-Francois Bernard-
trained No Problem Al Maury
looks the one to beat while Fran-
cois Rohaut runs Sivit Al Maury
for Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid
Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of
Dubai and Minister of Finance.
Meanwhile, Haydock Park in
England stages the Group 1 Bet-
fred Sprint Cup, which is the
sixth and penultimate race in
the Sprint division of the QIP-
CO British Champions Series.
Gordon Lord Byron bids be-
come only the second horse to
secure back-to-back wins in
the 1,200-metre event after Be
Friendly in 1966-’67.
Trainer Bin Surour bids
to follow up on past
success at Veliefendi
racecourse
By Leslie Wilson Jr
Racing & Special Features
Writer
Dubai
T
he rapid growth in the
popularity of cycling
was evident on Friday
morning when more than
400 cyclists turned out be-
fore dawn to participate in
the first build-up ride for
the Spinneys Dubai 92 Cycle
Challenge.
The early-bird cyclists
covered 35 kilometres at the
Nad Al Sheba cycle track
in the first of four build-up
rides ahead of the event it-
self on December 12.
The Spinneys Dubai 92
Cycle Challenge started in
2010, and now attracts cy-
cling enthusiasts from all
over the world. This year
more than 2,000 riders
are expected to enter —
four times more than took
part when the event was
launched.
Preparation ride
“It’s all about promoting
cycling in Dubai, and the
enthusiasm for our event is
fantastic, as reflected by the
numbers here for our first
build-up ride,” said Spinneys
Dubai 92 Cycle Challenge Di-
rector Stewart Howison.
“The idea is to increase
the distance with every
build-up ride to help pre-
pare cyclists for the event
itself. The rides are a great
way to get fit again and to
practice riding in a group,
and to motivate people to
train for the event.
“We’re expecting well
over 2,000 riders this De-
cember,andthenumbersare
growing year after year. This
is a great community event,
whether you are a serious
rider or just love cycling for
fun it’s a great chance to be
involved and enjoy the expe-
rience of being part of such
an amazing event. Cycling in
Dubai is so popular now and
we encourage everyone to
take up the challenge to be
involved,” he added.
400
cyclists
turn up
for ride
Staff Report
Courtesy: Krisztina Gonda
All together
■■ The Steelcraft Dragons are bidding to regain the bronze
medal they earned at the 2012 tournament.
Rex Features
Going for it
■■ Windhoek (right), ridden by Joe Fanning, wins The £200,000
Tattersalls Millions 3-Y-O Trophy at Newmarket last year.
●
Dragon boating is burgeoning in popularity,
with more than 50 million registered competitors
worldwide and in excess of 100 teams in the UAE.
AP
Golden moment
■■ Alex Morgan kisses her
2012 Olympics gold medal.
Senior career
Years Team Apps Gls
2008–09 West Coast FC 2 2
2010 California Storm 3 5
2010 Pali Blues 3 1
2011 Western New York Flash 13 4
2012 Seattle Sounders Women 3 2
2013– Portland Thorns FC 32 14
National team
2008 United States U20 10 5
2010– United States 73 46
Profile
Alexandra Patricia
Morgan
Date of birth: July 2, 1989
(age 25)
Place of birth: San Dimas,
California, United States
Height: 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Playing position Striker
Club information
Current team: Portland
Thorns FC
Quick
questions
Q: What has been the
highlight ofyourcareer?
A: I think my Olympic gold
medal was probably the
biggest accomplishment
in my career. I also think the
Under-20 World Cup was
a big thing, as that’s what
started my drive forwanting
to be on the senior national
team. It really helped me gain a
lot of experience going into the
Olympics.
Q:Who is better– Lionel Messi or
Cristiano Ronaldo?
A: I have to go with Messi because I’m a
Barcelona fan. I think there’s no-one else
better than him.
Q:Who isyourinspiration?
A: I’d say [veteran US women’s football
team striker] AbbyWambach. She was
such a leader of the team and a great
teammate. She was the first one to talk
to me on team.
Q:What about David Beckham – did
he inspireyouwhen he played in
MajorLeague Soccer?
A: When he was in the MLS, that was
latter part of his career, although he
was still very good and showed what
he could do. I don’t think I necessar-
ily looked at him at all, but I definitely
respect him for his career and what he’s
done. He put MLS on the map.
Q:Wouldyou like to appearin Sports
Illustrated’s Swimsuit edition
again?
A: I enjoyed it. It’s kind of something
never done before and a challenge for
me. It was a lot of fun, as I got to travel
to the Virgin Islands to do one of those
shoots.
Dubai
U
S national women’s
football star Alex Mor-
gan’s ability to tran-
scend her sport has received
a ringing endorsement from
her manager.
Dan Levy, Vice-President,
Action Sports and Olympics
at Wasserman Media Group,
said the 25-year-old pos-
sessed the “entire package”
from a marketability per-
spective. He said Morgan not
only possesses prodigious
footballing ability, but has
also exhibited extracurricu-
lar talents such as writing a
book trilogy called The Kicks,
which is about four football-
mad young girls.
Levy also cited her mod-
elling work, including twice
appearing in the leading
American magazine Sports
Illustrated’s swimsuit edition
featuring models and other
top female athletes.
Levy told Gulf News:
“She’s the entire package
as a marketable proposi-
tion and everything she has
touched so far has turned to
gold. Not only is she a great
player and scores goals,
which always helps when
you play in a forward’s posi-
tion, but she has the person-
ality that embraces the fact
that she is a role model for
all these young girls, globally
and here in the States.”
Of his client, who has also
appeared in television com-
mercials in the United States
and has lucrative sponsor-
ship deals with Nike, Pana-
sonic, and Coca Cola, Levy
added: “Some players want
to focus on their sport, while
some people are overly stim-
ulated by opportunities off
the field. She has a really
nice balance and perspec-
tive on what’s most impor-
tant, but also she’s willing to
work and and have fun with
other stuff as well.
“She recently did the
Sports Illustrated swimsuit
thing for the second time.
She’s done other neat stuff
like the book series. She
genuinely enjoys that stuff
as long as it doesn’t get in the
way of her soccer, which is
really helpful for us.”
Levy acknowledged Mor-
gan’s burning desire to help
spread the word about the
women’s game globally.
“She really wants to use
football as a way to reach
girls around the globe and
empower them to be great
at what they want to do,”
Levy said.
‘Everything she
has touched so
far has turned
to gold’
By Euan Reedie
Deputy Sports Editor
appraisal
exclusive
Courtesy: Krisztina Gonda
Growing discipline
■■ The Steelcraft Dragons’ Sarah Bennett, whose team train at the Dubai Marina Yacht Club, says dragon boating is rapidly gaining
in popularity, with more than 50 million registered competitors worldwide and in excess of 100 teams in the UAE alone.