Super Alex Morgan, Golden-Baller Jaedyn Shaw and the winners and losers of the USWNT's W Gold Cup triumph

She's back!

It looked like her USWNT career was in trouble. A testimonial might have been all that was left, which would have been a rough way to say goodbye to a legend. After being left out of the initial Gold Cup roster, it was tough to see a way back for Morgan in time for the Olympics this summer.

However, she has a chance now and after a resurgent Gold Cup, she's certainly back in the mix.

Brought in as an injury replacement, Morgan stepped right into the USWNT XI and showed all of the things she can bring as a No. 9. It's not pure speed and goals like it used to be. No, Morgan's game is a bit more nuanced now and, when used right, it can be effective.

She finished the tournament with two goals for the USWNT, scoring once from the spot and the other being a looping header. More important, though, were the little things she did to drag defenses around and create for those around her.

Will that be enough to get her into the Olympic squad? That's for Emma Hayes to decide. The most Morgan can do is make her case, and she did that during the Gold Cup.

On the flip side of that Morgan discussion is Mia Fishel, the player that she replaced. How heartbreaking that situation is as Fishel seemed ready to seize a big opportunity this spring.

With Morgan not originally called in, it seemed Fishel was going to get the chance to show why she's the USWNT striker of the future. Sophia Smith was in camp too, of course, and seemed set to take a chunk of minutes centrally, but one of the more exciting experiments seemed like it would be what an attacking united of Smith, Fishel and Trinity Rodman would look like.

And then it happened. Her ACL tear just before the tournament knocked Fishel out of not just this tournament, but the Olympics later this year. It was an awful break for a player who had earned a chance to stake her claim with the very best after a few solid cameos in 2023.

Now, that'll have to wait. Fishel has a long road to recovery. She'll return, no doubt, but so much will change between now and then. This was her first big chance and it won't be her last, but it's a big, big shame she didn't get the opportunity to seize it.

The big star of this tournament and, quite possibly, many tournaments to come.

Just 19 years old, Shaw was awarded the Golden Ball for this tournament, an absolutely wild achievement when you think about it. Her USWNT career is just getting started, but she's already racking up major international honors.

They're deserved, too.

Shaw led the USWNT in goals with four, even though she didn't even start three of the matches, including the final. The USWNT has seemed content to ease Shaw into the picture, but that time is over. She has officially arrived.

The teenager has a bright, bright future, but it's all coming even faster than expected. Prior to this tournament, the question was what the U.S. would do with her come Olympic time. Now, the question is what the U.S. would even look like without her going forward.

In a loaded attacking pool, Shaw has bullied her way in and she's only going to get better, too, which is a scary thought for anyone lining up on the other side. Now, with a big tournament under her belt, this summer feels like it may just be her real breakout onto the world stage.

For a while, it felt like a goalkeeper race was brewing. After this Gold Cup, though, it feels pretty obvious what the plan is going forward.

The USWNT played six games during this tournament. Alyssa Naeher started all but one of them. It's a pretty clear indication of who the starter is going forward, as Naeher looks set to retain her spot for at least one more tournament.

That's bad news for Casey Murphy and Jane Campbell, both of whom would have liked to use this tournament as a springboard to more minutes. Murphy got in, starting the 4-0 win over Argentina. Campbell, the 2023 NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year, did not.

This Gold Cup was all Naeher. Her mistake late in the semifinal against Canada could have been costly, but her superhuman performance in the shootout, both as a goalkeeper and as a penalty taker, erased any doubt. Naeher is still here and still going strong, and it seems that'll be the case in France this summer.

She started the tournament off with an apology and she ended it with a trophy. Is there a better way to make amends than by scoring a tournament winner?

Horan's comments about USWNT fans angered many, and there will be plenty who are still upset by what she said. Some of those people won't have their minds changed, no matter what she does, but there are worse ways to make up for a mistake than by stepping up and leading from the front, on and off the field.

That's what Horan did in this tournament. She scored three goals, the first two of which came from the penalty spot. The third, of course, was the winner in the finale, a massive header on the backpost that sealed the winner's medals for her and her teammates.

Horan continues to be a big-game player. She's appeared in five competitive finals and has contributed to four goals in those games. For a midfielder, that's a hell of a return.

Overall, though, it was about the tournament-wide performance from the USWNT captain. It began on a rocky note, and she still has plenty of work to do to earn back the trust of some segments of USWNT fans. She's on her way, though. Winning may not cure all, but it cures most.

You can envy a lot of things about Hayes' role as USWNT boss. She's taking charge of the most-discussed team in the women's game and has the potential to help that team climb back to the top as a savior.

You can't envy the headaches this team is about to give her, though, particularly in the attacking end.

The USWNT's Olympic squad is starting to come into shape. Naher looks set to start in goal. A backline of Emily Fox, Naomi Girma, Tierna Davidson and Jenna Nighswonger/Crystal Dunn seems like a safe bet. The midfield has expanded, but there's a core there.

The attack, though? Good luck with that one, Emma. Picking that group is going to be a nightmare.

It's the good type of nightmare, to be fair. It's always better to pick from too many rather than too few. No matter which way Hayes goes with it, she'll end up with some real talent.

How does a coach choose between Morgan, Shaw, Sophia Smith, Trinity Rodman, Lynn Williams and Midge Purce? What happens when you add in Mallory Swanson, Catarina Macario and Alyssa Thompson? How can a coach look at that group of players and decide that a few won't be going to the Olympics this summer?

It'll be a tough job, cutting that group down to six-ish players. It was only made tougher in recent weeks by Morgan's resurgence and Macario's return. Hayes has some difficult decisions on her hands, ones that few other coaches could even fathom having to make.

We can't say it just yet. It won't be true until we see what happens at the Olympics. Only then can we decide.

But this Gold Cup was a step forward for the USWNT. After last summer's World Cup failure, it was a sign that this group is starting to discover, or rediscover, what made past teams so successful. Some of that swagger, that grit, was back on display, which is what made this Gold Cup run feel like such an important building block for later this summer.

Now, let's be clear: the Gold Cup is no Olympic tournament. The best in the world will be there this summer. The U.S. had several tough games against really good opponents, teams like Canada, Brazil and Colombia. Waiting for them this summer, though, will be teams like Spain, France and Japan. It'll be a gauntlet.

This Gold Cup, though, wasn't necessarily about winning, but how the USWNT won. They had to suffer in a big way. The loss to Mexico could have unraveled them. So could have the rain that turned their semifinal against Canada into a sloppy mess. Their World Cup demons could have come back to bite them in the penalty shootout, too.

The USWNT, though, perservered. A new generation, led by Shaw, proved that they're ready for this stage. They're ready for what's next: the good, the bad and the ugly that they'll need to survive to win a medal this summer.

That's what this Gold Cup was about. They won good games, they won bad games and they won ugly games. More importantly to fans, though, was that they won meaningful games. We'll have to see how many more times they can do that this year, though, before saying the USWNT is all the way back.