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Ali Krieger: 100 Matches THE ORLANDO PRIDE WARRIOR

“Playing at the highest level brings me so much joy and that’s all that matters” - Ali Krieger

By Megan Van Dyk

Ali Krieger struggles to remember her first match in the National Women’s Soccer League. Not because she didn’t play -- because she did; not because she wasn’t excited -- because she was.

She can’t tell you the scoreline of the match, or the minutes she played, but what she does recall are the feelings and the emotions from that day more than five years ago.

In truth the defender has never cared about the numbers or accolades, she has simply played for the love of the game.

“Playing at the highest level brings me so much joy and that’s all that matters,” Krieger said.

Now, having crossed the touchline with the Orlando Pride in her 100th NWSL appearance, that same mentality of not focusing on the stats and honors, but rather on herself and the people within them, is what brings her right back to that day in 2013.

“I don’t really count games,” Krieger said. “I think in my career, I just always thought, ‘Well, I’ll play as long as my heart is still in it.’”

From a distance it’s easy to know Ali Krieger, the U.S. Women’s National Team right back and FIFA World Cup Champion, but it’s her lead-by-example and on-field warrior mentality that truly represents who she is.

“What Kreigs does as a leader are that her actions on and off the field are such that she has complete respect from our youngest player to our most experienced player,” Orlando Pride Head Coach Tom Sermanni said.

At 33 years old, the way the defender plays has always resembled a leader. While most leaders are those who are the loudest and most outspoken, it is the “drive, determination, focus, confidence and order” that Krieger brings to the pitch that makes her truly someone worth following, as Sermanni explained.

Sermanni first noticed those qualities when he assumed the role as Head Coach for the U.S. WNT in 2013, on the heels of Krieger’s return to soccer following an ACL tear that kept her off the 2012 London Olympic roster.

“To my recollection she returned in one of my first matches,” Sermanni said. “I think it highlighted the importance that she held in the squad. To have her work ethic on the field, her character, her temperament and her support for players instantly makes any team better and reflects the importance of Krieger to any team.”

While she has always been a player that others look to as an example, Krieger never sought out to be a role model. She just shows up day in and day out and gives her all to the game.

“I’ve just always thought, ‘I’m gonna leave this game better than I found it,’ and that’s the type of legacy I’ve always wanted to leave. If I work as hard as I can to be successful, I think someone is gonna see that and it’s going to make an impact on one of my teammates, or a younger player who’s going to fill my shoes one day.”

Teammate and fellow defender Shelina Zadorsky is a perfect picture of that legacy that Krieger desires to leave behind.

Zadorsky first played with Krieger in 2016 when she joined the Washington Spirit as a young defender recently out of college. Now, two years later, Zadorsky can clearly point to the impact Krieger has made on her and on every teammate she shares the pitch with.

“She’s one of the most consistent players I’ve ever played with and she’s always impacting the game in a positive way,” Zadorsky said. “Her work ethic is constant, I’ve never seen it waver and it’s something I noticed right away and that has stayed the same.”

‘Consistency’ is a common word in Krieger’s vocabulary; it is the foundation that she has built her entire career upon.

Prior to an injury earlier this season that sidelined the defender for four weeks, Krieger had played 3,227 consecutive minutes, which was the league’s longest active minutes streak at the time.

In 2017 she played in every single match for the Pride and was the only player on the roster to play every minute. In her five years in the league she has played in at least 75 percent of the matches each season, with the exception of 2015 when she won the FIFA Women’s World Cup. The defender consistently registers a passing accuracy of over 75 percent and has won over 70 percent of the tackles she has attempted as a member of the Pride.

“I’ve tried to be so consistent every single game, every single time I try to step on the field,” Krieger said. “I just want to be remembered as being consistently good. I want fans to remember how much I put into the game.”

This is something she has already begun to notice at matches, in support from fans and in social media posts that repeat praise after praise for her.

For Krieger it’s the fan support that makes her feel she is laying the groundwork for a legacy that will go well beyond her playing years.

“They inspire me to want to continue to play and get better,” Krieger said. “They motivate me.”

And while she never sought out to become a role model, she hopes to continue to remind fans to “work hard and lead by example,” just as those before her did.

Despite having 100 league appearances under her belt, Krieger is showing no signs of slowing down.

As a FIFA World Cup Champion, an Olympian and a UEFA Women’s Champions League winner, it seems as if there is nothing the defender can’t do.

Next up on her to-do list?

“An NWSL Championship.”

And while she may not recall that day in 2013 or every play on the pitch since, Ali Krieger knows the players who have her back and she knows that it’s her love of the game that will continue to lead her on her path.

“I just want to continue to play, to continue to have fun and as long as my heart’s in it, that’s all I care about.”

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