She looks every inch a Bond girl, reclining in the Caribbean shallows, the breakwater washing over her bronzed body as she runs her fingers through her long, lustrous tawny locks.
Slim, toned with rock-hard abs, she has a physique that 007 himself would probably kill for.
“It’s important to accept your body for what God gave you,” the star of the U.S. women’s soccer team Alex Morgan tells CNN in a phone interview, as she talks about her career — and the importance of being comfortable in your own skin, whatever shape you are.
Football’s answer to Ursula Andress, the 25-year-old Morgan has posed for Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit Edition. Twice.
The publication’s annual homage to scantily-clad sportswomen divides opinion, with critics arguing it serves only to objectify those who should be afforded the same respect as their male counterparts.
Away from the camera lens, the pacey striker’s achievements have propelled her to the summit of women’s football. Morgan has half a century of goals for her country and already has an Olympic gold medal in her back pocket.
Baring all
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“Me and my sister … we never really understood the unluckiness of the number 13,” laughs Morgan.
“We would go to hotels and we would go on vacations with our family and there was never a floor 13. We thought that was the strangest thing.
“We always told ourselves that when we got old and rich we would have a hotel called “The Lucky 13″ and all of the floors would be 13a, 13b, 13c… It was something that we joked about, just the ridiculousness of people thinking a simple number was unlucky.”
And serendipity came knocking when Morgan started her club career and it was the only number available to her.
“So I thought ‘I’m going to take it!’ I’ve never seen any unluckiness in this number and it’s done great things for me.”
Opinion: Why no swimsuit edition for men?
