Ali Krieger

Alexandra Blaire Krieger (born July 28, 1984) is an American former professional and international soccer player.

Krieger attended Penn State University from 2003 to 2006 where she played for the Nittany Lions women's soccer team.

She was an advertising and public relations major.

In 2003, Krieger started in all 25 matches for Penn State, ten of those appearances being in conference matches.

She ranked fifth in number of shots in the season at Penn State with 24 and third in assists with nine.

Penn State was the 2003 Big Ten Conference regular season champion and was No.1 seed in the Big Ten Women's Soccer Tournament.

Krieger started in the quarterfinals of the tournament, where they faced Wisconsin on November 6.

Wisconsin advanced in the tournament on penalty kicks after the scored was tied 0–0.

Penn State earned the No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament, its highest seed up to that point.

They made it to the quarterfinal round, when they were defeated by UCLA on November 28, 2003.

At the end of the 2003 season, Krieger was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year.

Krieger broke the big ten record for numbers assist in one game with four against Bucknell on September 17, 2003.

In 2004, Krieger started in all 23 matches for Penn State, ten of those appearances being in conference matches.

She ranked fourth in points for the season with nine, fifth in goals with three, sixth in assists with three, fourth in shots with 35, and third in shots on goal with 16.

Penn State was the 2004 Big Ten Conference regular season champion and was No.1 seed in the Big Ten Women's Soccer Tournament.

Krieger started in all three matches of the tournament for Penn State.

Penn State faced Ohio State on November 7 in the final of the tournament, which ended in a 0–2 defeat for Penn State.

Penn State earned the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, its highest up to that point.

They made it to the second round, where they were defeated by Maryland on November 14.

She first appeared for the United States national team at the 2008 Four Nations Tournament during a match against Canada on January 16, 2008.

She has since made more than 100 total appearances for the team.

Krieger has represented the United States at three FIFA Women's World Cups: 2011 in Germany, 2015 in Canada, and 2019 in France.

In 2012, Krieger sustained a serious knee injury during the 2012 CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying tournament and did not recover in time to be selected to the 2012 Olympic Team.

She was part of the defense that held opponents scoreless for a record 540 minutes and helped lead the United States to become 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup champions.

She started in all seven matches for the United States in the 2015 tournament, and she played every minute of all six United States matches at the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup.

After persevering, Krieger was named to her first Olympic team four years later and participated in the 2016 Rio Olympics.

She became the oldest first time US Olympian for women's soccer.

Before joining Gotham FC in 2022, Krieger played professional soccer for the Washington Freedom, 1.

FFC Frankfurt of Germany's Frauen-Bundesliga, Tyresö FF of Sweden's Damallsvenskan, Washington Spirit, and Orlando Pride.

During her five years with FFC Frankfurt, she won the UEFA Women's Champions League and was the only player on the United States women's national team that played overseas.

In 2023, she captained Gotham FC to their first ever NWSL Championship before retiring.

Born to Debbie Alongi and Ken Krieger in the Washington, D.C. suburb of Alexandria, Virginia, Ali was raised with one older brother, Kyle in Dumfries, Virginia.

Her father played professional soccer and was a soccer coach in Virginia.

Her brother, Kyle, was the reason she started playing soccer.

Krieger played youth soccer for the Prince William Sparklers, where she was coached by her father for 12 years.

She played with the team from age seven to 19 and was one of the eight players that stayed with the Sparklers for the entire twelve-year run.

In high school, Krieger spent one year at Hylton High School before transferring to newly opened Forest Park High School in Woodbridge, Virginia.

At Forest Park, she was a three-year team captain, led her team to their first undefeated regular season and was a three-time, first-team all-district player.

She was twice named an All-Virginia AAA selection and was an All-Met Honorable mention during her sophomore year.

During her junior and senior years, she was a first-team All-Met selection and as a senior was named The Washington Post's Player of the Year, Krieger was also honored as Gatorade's Virginia Player of the Year in her final year at Forest Park.