ShUnder a blazing sun, amid a crowd of 90,185 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on July 10, 1999, an 11-year-old girl stood behind the goal where Brandi Chastain scored the penalty kick that won the World Cup for the United States, basking in pure inspiration. Ali Reilly, now 37, a five-time World Cup captain for New Zealand, remembers that moment personally. “It made me want to be a strong woman who could show off her abs to the whole world and be on the front page of a newspaper,” he says. “I think about how uncool it was to be good at sport, at the time, and that was a pivotal moment for me to see those women.” They do what they did and celebrate it.”
On Sunday, Riley will be celebrated in what is being billed as a farewell match at her hometown club Angel City, which has appointed her as its first female captain in 2022. She will retire at the end of this season after an impressive career that included 163 caps, four Olympics and spells with Rosengard, Bayern Munich and Chelsea, with Sunday’s game expected to be Angel City’s final home game of the season as they make their playoff appearance. be farther away from them. Her decision to retire comes after a year in which she underwent IVF, watched her childhood home in Los Angeles burn down and got married, all while trying to rehabilitate from a chronic nerve injury, so being able to hang up her boots on her own terms, back on the Angel City team, may be her biggest accomplishment.
“I went 50-50, landed awkwardly, and felt the burn all over my left leg,” Riley says, of the initial injury to a muscle in her buttocks, the obturator insole, in 2023, the resulting complications of which led to nerve damage. “I’ve never felt anything like this before, and I couldn’t walk for months. It feels like these lightning strikes are burning your leg. I used to call them ‘zingers.’
“The medical professionals told me: ‘It’s in your head, so if you meditate, you won’t feel it.’ That’s not true, and that didn’t help me. We were trying medications and injections, but the pain was taking your breath away, like someone was stabbing you. I went to the gym every day for seven months and saw no progress. And then we found a doctor in Salt Lake City who – I thank him – tried a different injection and in the end I got where I am.” Now. I can use my legs to play soccer. For two hours I can be on the field and feel good. The rest of the day is still very difficult. I can perform, I can train and be with my team. But physically and emotionally, I can’t do it for longer than two more games, so I can’t keep living this way. “I will retire because I have to take care of myself.”
Riley returned to the Angel City squad in August, crying tears of joy with her teammates and medical staff, but has not gone beyond being an unused substitute, despite hope of an appearance on Sunday. She wants more knowledge for people needing treatment for nerve injuries, more discussion in football about motherhood and support for aspiring parents. “I had two rounds of IVF while I was injured, which is something we should talk about more,” she says. “There is a very short window and egg retrieval can be very uncomfortable [so] I really hope we get more support.
“No one has talked to me about this, and to do IVF at 37, it’s much harder than if you froze your eggs earlier in your career. We’re seeing more female players having children and coming back to play, which is very important to achieve this vision. Right now, it’s not possible for everyone. But women can do anything if we get the support and resources.”
Immediately after her IVF procedure, Riley was heartbroken when her parents’ home, where she grew up in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles, burned down in the devastating January fires.
Riley seems to feel intense sadness when she remembers seeing her neighborhood burning, but she also has a strong sense of perspective, and is grateful that her loved ones are safe and around her, as are her memories. “I’m very lucky to have grown up in a place like Palisades where I was very safe and I was able to be a kid and play outside until dark – where I learned how to play soccer.” She says her parents plan to rebuild. “I really try to turn everything into something positive, and I don’t think too much about my suffering or our suffering, but I want to give back and at the same time spread joy,” she says.
Three days later she was to be married, and she began to feel better and spoke of her gratitude for her husband’s contribution to her return from injury.
“I don’t know what I would have done without Lucas because there were so many days where I was depressed and he really gained everything I had more energy for and brought me so much happiness. He was really the one who helped me get out of the house, do our grocery shopping and make dinner for us. I lost myself so much and definitely became just a shell of myself and I don’t want that to ever happen again.”
However, those low points won’t be what she remembers most when she reflects on her nearly two-decade career. Her international career is with New Zealand, Where her father is from gives her the greatest pride, and all the tiring economy class flights were worth it when she helped her country achieve its first World Cup win.
It came on home soil on the opening night of the 2023 World Cup, against Norway, and Riley says it was “the best day and night of my entire life” as her teammates paid tribute to their predecessors.
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Earlier, the mountains had been climbed, not least to win domestic cups and league titles in Sweden, in a career that began in the most innocent of fashions: sitting on the ground, picking grass.
“In my early years, my father was my coach and I would sit on the field and pick grass and I loved it. I remember sitting on the field while everyone was crowding around the ball. My mother wouldn’t even come to my games because she would say, ‘What am I watching?’ And my father really believed in me even then.
Riley originally wanted to become a goalkeeper but established herself as an outstanding defender after a strong college career with Stanford University. Her heart continued to lie in California. “Being a part of Angel City has been the best part of my career. I think coming home is what a lot of athletes dream of. [My mantra was:] “I will give it everything I have, every day.”
Riley has a lot of media experience — not to mention a cookbook — and suggests that will be part of her next chapter, though she also says, “I would love to have a foundation one day. I would love to invest in or own a club one day. I want to be part of this crazy growth of women’s sports, especially women’s soccer.”
“It feels like culture is changing, society is changing. We’re in a different era where we can say: ‘We’ve arrived.’ Yes, we need to fight for more investment. Yes, there are still trolls and a lot of men who may not realize how powerful women’s sport is and how profitable it is. But the platforms are there and they’re more accessible, so I want to cover the game and celebrate how far we’ve come and be able to do that through the lens of Media.