This started before Gotham FC's final regular season game a year ago, and was a way for head coach Juan Carlos Amoros to give his team extra motivation.
“Let's not let this be Ali Krieger's last fight!”
That situation lasted for several weeks, as Gotham clinched the sixth and final spot in the playoffs, followed by a magical postseason run that extended the career of the veteran defender and captain, who had announced his retirement at the end of the season. embarked on. I always give the same message after a dramatic playoff victory as a road underdog.
“Not Ali Krieger's last fight!”
“It was kind of a joke, but the team was coming together and we were really excited,” Krieger said.
This mantra didn't receive a jubilant edit after Gotham made the comeback from worst to first place, clinching their first NWSL championship with a stunning 2-1 victory over OL Reign.
“This is truly Ali Krieger's last fight!”
“It was just unbelievable to have my team behind me, and I think that's something special that I'll never forget,” Krieger said this week of his series-changing year in November. Looking back, he told the Post.
“We weren't necessarily the best team on the field, which I can say out loud, but we had that kind of culture in the locker room and that helped us be successful. Ta.”
In some ways, Krieger's past year has been “really tough,” she said.
She had to make the decision to retire as a player. She went through a public divorce with former teammate Ashlyn Harris. Her father passed away in March.
But “I'm really happy because with some endings, there are also some new beginnings,” she said.
Krieger, 40, has been spending more time with her children, ages 3 and 2. She is the co-host of ESPN's women's soccer show, “Football W.'' And she has thrown herself into the work of growing the sport on the event circuit.
That includes becoming Gotham's first club ambassador, as well as a business-side role mentoring the team's younger players. In September, she joined President Biden in the East Room when Gotham became the first NWSL champion (“hopefully not the last'') recognized by the White House.
“I really want to help the club become the best environment and the best club team in the world,” said the two-time World Cup winner. ”
The effort to add a championship begins in earnest Sunday afternoon, when Gotham opens the playoffs against the Portland Thorns at Red Bull Arena.
The synopsis of the matchup is well known from last year, only this time Gotham are the talented favorites, the Thorns are a long shot rallying to make the playoffs, and their captain, legendary Christine Sinclair, world's all-time favorite Featuring the leader. Players who scored for their national team – Players heading for retirement.
“I can relate a little bit,” Krieger said. “That’s why it’s going to be a great match, they’re going to be even more motivated… and to see her win and to claw and claw and fight to the end to get the flower and come out on top. He will do everything.”
In the eight-team NWSL playoff field, Gotham finished a club-record-setting season with eight wins and is firmly in the top four alongside No. 1 Orlando, No. 2 Washington, and No. 4 Kansas City. They were undefeated in this match and easily surpassed last year's ranking (17 wins, 4 losses, 5 draws).
“They're playing great football, sharing the ball well and having a very lethal attack that makes it really, really difficult for teams to even play.” [of their defensive end]'' Krieger said. “I don't think there are many teams that can actually beat Gotham the way they are right now.”
Believe it or not, Sunday's quarterfinal will be the first home playoff game in Gotham history. It's a perfect symbol of the club's remarkable resurgence over the past two years since Krieger's retirement.
“It's great to be the reigning champions after the season we've had, to finally be able to celebrate,” Kreiger said. “But last year we had a chip on our shoulders because we felt like we were the underdogs. … So now we're just not worried, but Gotham is in the game and this is the final game. I think you have to act like that.”
