Ali Krieger's century celebration has been a long time in the making (2024)

Ali Krieger smiled a bit and rolled her eyes.

“Oh yeah. Yeah, that,” she said last Sunday, in a jokingly dismissive tone.

Krieger had just stepped off the field at Red Bull Arena after signing for fans, following a 1-1 draw between her Orlando Pride and Sky Blue FC. She was looking ahead, though. The “that” in this case was Thursday night’s national team match in Charlotte, N.C.; a match that will include a celebration of her 100th appearance for the national team. She was characteristically ready to deflect the attention away from herself and back to her team, despite admitting that she was — at least on some level — excited for the game and the upcoming ceremony.

Turns out, she wouldn’t be able to participate in the match itself.

While Krieger had played the full 90 in that NWSL game — picking up an assist on Shelina Zadorsky’s goal in the 18th minute — at some point she tweaked her knee. Later that day, it froze up on her. U.S. national team head coach Jill Ellis revealed during her press conference on Wednesday that Krieger would not actually be available for her own celebration game.

Krieger spent most of Wednesday’s open training session at Bank of America Stadium on an exercise bike on the sidelines, watching as her teammates ran through drills. Still, the ceremony is a go, even if Krieger won’t be able to wear the captain’s armband while playing on Thursday night, as is tradition for games like this.

Krieger earned her 100th cap back in May during the send-off series ahead of the World Cup, and said on Sunday that that match had been enough for her. Her teammates surrounded her on the field to celebrate, and she had the chance to reflect on her journey in the mixed zone after the game. But now, a full 140 days after that match against New Zealand in St. Louis, Krieger will be honored, her family beside her.

“I didn’t want to make any of those games leading up to the World Cup about me,” Krieger said on Sunday. “It was more obviously about the team, and plus I had just gotten back to the team. I wasn’t about to make a whole scene, that’s not me. The team always comes first.”

She always expected the celebration to happen during the team’s Victory Tour — it was only a matter of when. What she wasn’t prepared for was her father to be in a major car accident, ending up in the hospital for over a week and requiring multiple surgeries. Krieger missed both Victory Tour matches against Portugal in Philadelphia and St. Paul, heading back home to be with her family.

The @USWNT organized transportation for my dad to make it to @alikrieger 100 cap celebration tonight! Still recovering, but he’s earnest in his effort to support Ali!! Can’t wait to see our fave! pic.twitter.com/g60blNhgj2

— Kyle Krieger (@kylekrieger) October 3, 2019

By Wednesday evening, knowing she wouldn’t be able to step onto the field to represent her country against Korea, she was still savoring the moment.

“To be in front of these fans in the stadium, and have all my family present? That’s going to be a dream come true,” Krieger said.

Defender Becky Sauerbrunn and Krieger earned their first caps in the same game on January 16, 2008. It was a 4-0 win over Canada during the Four Nations tournament, in front of 1,000 people in Guangzhou, China. They had both been called in to their first camp under brand new head coach Pia Sundhage, a six-day training session in Carson, California.

“I’ve been able to see her entire career,” Sauerbrunn told The Athletic on Wednesday. “She’s always been such a fantastic person. To me, in 2011, I thought she was one of the best players on the field. 2015, one of the best players on the field. In 2019, maybe she didn’t play as much, but when she got on the field she was one of the best players on the field. She’s remarkable.”

Sauerbrunn wasn’t surprised by Krieger making the World Cup roster this past summer, but a few months later, was still impressed by the way the story ended. She said that Krieger hadn’t lost confidence, her form hadn’t dipped, she had remained professional despite the fact that she wasn’t getting game time. .

“I imagine it was not an easy thing to have to go through,” Sauerbrunn said, also noting that she understood that so many of these decisions were out of the players’ hands. “Her attitude and outlook throughout the whole time, it’s kind of remarkable.”

That attitude was a key part of Krieger’s return to the team, Sauerbrunn said, recalling how Krieger shares her experience with the younger players on the team, how everyone feels comfortable going to her to talk.

“To come back, to make the roster, to play, and to play the second 45 minutes of a World Cup final, and to play as well as she did, it’s just a testament to the kind of player and person that she is,” Sauerbrunn said. “It’s remarkable. To be gone for so long, and to be trusted to go into the most important game.”

Ali Krieger was the final player of the U.S. national team to touch the ball before the final whistle of the World Cup, a fact that Sauerbrunn appreciated.

“It’s kind of poetic when you think about it.”

And as for Thursday night’s official ceremony, Sauerbrunn laughed when asked about Krieger’s reluctance to have the spotlight on her. “I’m sure she loves the attention.” she joked, before growing more serious and discussing the list of challenges that Krieger had to overcome to even reach the milestone — her ACL and MCL tears during 2012 Olympic qualifying, the radio silence from U.S. Soccer for two years after being dropped from the roster.

“It’s a big deal to get to 100 on this team,” she said, “because there are so many great players in this country and to be on the field 100 times, it shows a lot about who you are and the player that you are. I think she’s just stoked, and I think we’re all stoked for her because we know how much this means to her.”

That said, Sauerbrunn did say that Krieger has always had a team-first approach, so while she might not be super comfortable with all eyes on her, she hoped that Krieger would understand all the sentiment behind it.

“I think she knows how much we love her and are so proud and lucky to have her on the team. I hope she bathes in the appreciation that we have for her.”

Of all her U.S. teammates, nobody has a better appreciation of what Thursday’s ceremony will mean to Krieger than goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris. As Krieger’s fiancée, Harris had a front row seat to the journey back into the national team picture.

“I think what people don’t realize is what went into this moment,” Harris said on Wednesday. “People see her coming in after a really hard few years of being left out, and what that looked like. I was there every single day, sometimes to even pick her up off the ground.”

Harris leaned against the barrier of the mixed zone and spoke softly and thoughtfully. She said she was proud of Krieger multiple times during the interview, almost as punctuation to each thought she had as she described the past few years.

“The rug was ripped out from beneath her, and she had a choice to make,” Harris said. “Did she bet on herself, did she question her value? Was she going to get out of bed and keep training and work hard and not let one decision defeat her? And she made the decision to make it impossible to be left off the roster.”

Harris echoed what Krieger had described to media back in May — that as she trained, Krieger trained. As Harris went out for sessions with her goalkeeper coach, Krieger was on the next field over, working with a coach in a private session. These were the moments that no one else saw.

“The biggest thing I love about her is her attitude she brings,” Harris said on Wednesday. “She’s so professional. She doesn’t hold grudges. She came back in here with a smile, and a new life to her, and a new chance, and she didn’t take that for granted. She wasn’t ill-willed, she didn’t make it an issue. She wanted to be here for the team, and here for herself, and put on a good performance and be a good leader. She did that.”

There is one complication for Harris with Krieger back in the mix though — how nervous it makes her. When Krieger got the call to sub in for the second half of the World Cup final, the nerves for Harris were off the charts as she watched her fiancée take the field in Lyon.

“Usually, I’m totally fine managing myself, like, this is my job,” Harris said. “She throws me a curveball when she’s here. When she’s here, my stress levels are through the roof. I want nothing but success for her and for her to do well.”

It’s not all nerves and work. Harris also takes joy in seeing how the team has rallied around Krieger and celebrated these moments as well, whether it was in St. Louis or during the team’s week-long party after bringing home another trophy in France.

“When you hear the way people speak of her, that is just incredible for me to be able to see, how much she’s impacted the people around her, and that’s what I value.”

When Thursday’s ceremony happens before the match, yes, Harris will still be feeling proud.

“I’m incredibly proud of her, but she did that herself. She had a choice to make and she chose to show up every day for herself. She bet on herself and knew she would be there in the end,” Harris said. “That’s a testament to her personality, character, and strength.”

After returning from France, Krieger wrote about her journey to her third World Cup for the Players’ Tribune. She recalled the call that she received that took her off a national team contract, and all the time in between until she got another call to come back into camp in March 2019.

“I’m in a really good place at this point,” she told Ellis at that camp. “I’m happier than I’ve ever been. All I want to do is continue moving forward and thriving.”

On Thursday night, her family, her teammates and the fans will have a chance to celebrate that journey one more time. Krieger herself is ready to move on to what’s next. And as always, even on the night before she was due to be honored, Krieger was reiterating how she doesn’t want to make this moment about her, about the work she did in the NWSL, the offseasons, the private sessions, about the emotional journey to be a stronger person by the time that call came in from Jill Ellis.

“You know, I get kind of uncomfortable celebrating myself,” she said on Wednesday. “It’s never been just about me, so that’s always hard to do. I love being a part of the team, and so I know we’re going to all celebrate together.”

Krieger led the procession of players out onto the field at Bank of America Stadium on Thursday night, in front of 30,071 fans — the largest crowd for a U.S. women’s soccer game ever in North Carolina. She carried the 2019 World Cup trophy with her, wearing a custom captain’s armband celebrating the 100 caps. The joy was clear. When she first saw her family waiting on the sideline for the ceremony, she broke into a giant smile.

It might not have been a perfect night due to her knee injury, but the five minutes of the ceremony might still have been enough. U.S. Soccer vice president Cindy Parlow Cone and general manager Kate Markgraf participated, handing over flowers, a watch and a No. 100 jersey. Kyle Krieger lifted his sister into a hug and twirled her for three spins, unable to contain his happiness.

Behind her, Harris was working to hold back the tears, picking up a towel to wipe her eyes.

Working on adding photos from tonight's ceremony for Ali Krieger to my story at @TheAthleticSCCR, but seeing the emotions for Ashlyn Harris… it was a lot.

Story → https://t.co/yrOfjkQuhc pic.twitter.com/ybsObYOI6E

— Meg Linehan (@itsmeglinehan) October 4, 2019

“It’s no surprise that it’s been a really difficult few weeks for our family,” she said after the game in the mixed zone. “To be able to celebrate her, and to be able to see Ken (Krieger’s father) come out on the field, I think that was a really emotional moment for all of us.”

Again, all Harris was feeling was pride, saying Krieger deserved Thursday night’s moment, but also to be a two-time World Champion.

“I’m just so blessed that I get to tell her every day how special she is,” Harris said. “To do this together, and this journey together, I’m so grateful. It’s so humbling. I’m incredibly proud of her, not just as a player but the woman she is off the field is something we should all aspire to be. I’m very proud of her.”

When asked about Ali Krieger in the mixed zone, Megan Rapinoe smiled and clutched her chest, calling the night a “very special” one.

“There are just certain moments when everything comes together,” Rapinoe said, “and someone really deserves what’s happening, and this was one of those nights.”

(All photos: Megan Linehan)