USWNT needs Alex Morgan to deliver another clutch performance

The time is now, Alex Morgan. 

Time to step forward and show some of that Morgan magic. Time to get the United States' Women's World Cup campaign humming along briskly rather than allowing it to become more of an uphill struggle.

Morgan, named as co-captain alongside Lindsey Horan for the tournament, is the most clutch performer the American team has. Heck, her propensity for popping up in the biggest and most important of moments is virtually unmatched in the entire sport.

And now, even though it might not feel like it as dire as in previous World Cups, is crunch time. Yes, it is only the group stage. Yes, Portugal will be a sizable underdog when the teams meet in Auckland, New Zealand (coverage begins Tuesday at 1 a.m. ET, with kickoff at 3 a.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app), but the importance of coach Vlatko Andonovski's squad finding its true rhythm and discovering its impetus is paramount. 

When certain elite players "just so happen" to be the ones to meet the occasion when it truly matters, time and again, that's rarely by coincidence. For all her skill and speed and technical prowess, Morgan has the innate ability to read the game better than any player I've ever seen in women's soccer.

That sense of opportunistic timing has always been there, dating back to her earliest moments on the national team. Few remember the USA was not so far away from failing to even qualify for the 2011 World Cup, before Morgan struck a critical goal against Italy in the playoff.

In the semifinal of that tournament, she coolly finished off France with a marvelous breakaway chip over the goalkeeper. In the final, she scored one and set up another for Abby Wambach, before Japan's stunning recovery.

The following year, Morgan delivered the winning blow as the Americans saw off Canada 4-3 in a thrilling extra-time semifinal at the London Olympics.

In 2019, as the semifinal against England provided the USA's most difficult challenge of the event, Morgan's header from a brilliant Horan cross proved to be the game-winner.

And right now, following an opening win over Vietnam that was a little lacking, and a draw with the Netherlands that required a major turnaround, that's the kind of inspired intervention that's needed.

The unforgiving and no-margin-for-error part of the tournament upon us. The equation is essentially this: five games that the USA needs to win (a tie with Portugal would be enough to qualify for the next stage, but would probably mean a second-place group finish) if it is going to three-peat.

By any average criteria, Morgan's performances so far have been just fine. By Alex Morgan standard, they have been below what you might expect.

"We are not happy if we're not getting the win," Morgan said after the tie against the Netherlands. "Obviously, it puts first place in the group up for grabs now. So, we have to close the job when we play against Portugal."

Much has been made of the team's system, how Morgan's role now is to deflect and occupy the other team's central defenders and allow speedsters Trinity Rodman and Sophia Smith to shine. Some will argue that reduces Morgan's potential impact. In reality, Morgan doesn't need excuses made for her.

"I think it's not hard to realize that Alex's role is slightly different than the Alex we're used to in the past," Andonovski told reporters. "She does set up the other two forwards a lot more.

"It's not that she's not capable of scoring goals or getting behind crosses, but we can also see her playing balls to both Trinity and Soph."

FOX analyst and former men's national team star Alexi Lalas believes Morgan's value to the group comes in numerous ways.

"She can take all of the pressure on the field and all the attention that she gets," Lalas said on World Cup NOW. "She has entered a phase in her life and career where the game had slowed down for her. She still has the physical ability, so that hasn't eroded yet. And she has, I think, the mental ability to understand exactly what she needs to do. (That) might be the cup of tea the team needs."

Morgan is 34 now and admits she is at a certain point in her life. She loves being a mother, and her daughter Charlie has arrived in New Zealand. The role of being a veteran voice of knowledge comes naturally to her, because she has lived through the whole cycle and remembers when stars of yesteryear took her under their wing.

And she is at a point where she knows this doesn't last forever, that yes, there is more to life than soccer, but also that being a performer at this level is special, and no moment of it is to be squandered.

Opportunities need to be taken. Morgan has the undeniable ability to change games, win games, and influence tournaments such as this. No point keeping it in the locker.

It is fair to say that while the USA is still this World Cup's favorite, it perhaps has a shakier and less certain hold on that status than it might have expected.

Yet if the clock ticks around to Morgan-time, one of the USWNT's most compelling attributes will have been restored. 

Martin Rogers is a columnist for FOX Sports and the author of the FOX Sports Insider newsletter. Follow him on Twitter @MRogersFOX and subscribe to the daily newsletter.