The world knows Morgan Brian as USWNT #6, the fierce midfielder who helped bring the World's Cup to the USA in 2015. But for AE School's assistant director of operations Vickie Brian this soccer phenom is something more special. She is her daughter (especially when the stakes are high).
There's something about that mother-daughter bond thing.
Vickie Brian can't explain it to you, but neither does she question it.
"I was sitting in the dentist's chair having my teeth worked on this past April when my phone started buzzing, and, without looking at it, I knew it was Morgan," says Brian, the AE School's assistant director for operations.
"And it was Morgan. She was telling me she'd made the team, that she was going to France. She was the 23rd pick for the team."
For anyone who follows soccer, those words will jump off the page: sidelined for two years with what turned out to be adductor injuries, Morgan Brian, the fiercely competitive midfielder for the 2015 World Cup-winning U.S. Women's National Soccer Team, had rehabbed herself back onto the roster for the much-anticipated 2019 FIFA World's Cup series, currently underway in France. As the 23rd pick, Morgan Brian was the absolutely last person to nab a spot.
With her signature stoicism, Vickie Brian calmly fills us in:
"It had been a tough year for Morgan - not being able to play the sport she loved, not knowing what was wrong with her. She had only recently figured out what the problem was - her adductors - and the rehab was not as fast as she wanted. She knew she wasn't at 100 percent. But the coach knew that Morgan had the knowledge of the game, the ability to handle pressure and adversity on the field. In a competitive series like this, those qualities are important. Morgan had earned this spot."
With those last words, a little bit of motherly pride has snuck back into Vickie Brian's voice. If you are listening to her, you swoon just a little. She graciously indulges you, but only to a point. There's something entirely unsentimental behind her take on things. And it might just explain that mother-daughter bond thing a little better:
"Throughout the year, we tried to counsel her, to guide her, to help her as she tried to figure out what was wrong. But what got us through the year was our mantra 'With God, all things are possible. If it's His will, it will happen, and if it isn't, He has other plans for you.' So when Morgan learned she had made the roster, she was in shock because, for her - and for us - it was a miracle. He paved the way. He had a reason. It was proof."
Morgan Brian started in the USA-Chile game on June 16, and will continue to sub during the upcoming series, as needed. The next game will be Monday, June 24 against Spain.
Rooting for the Home Team. Steve and Vickie Brian have always embraced the excitement - and the struggles - of their soccer phenom daughter, Morgan.
Always Their Little Girl. At the lowest moments during her recent rehab from an adductor injury, soccer phenom Morgan Brian would often turn to her parents for perspective. Her mother didn't hesitate: "I told her 'You are not a soccer superstar to us. You are our beloved daughter, whom we'll always love.We will love and support you no matter what you do.'"