"That made me want to be a strong woman that could show her abs in front of the entire world and be on the front page of a newspaper. I think about how uncool it was to be good at sports, back then, and that moment was pivotal for me to see those women do what they did and be celebrated for it."
"On Sunday it will be Riley being celebrated at what is being billed as her farewell match at her home-town club Angel City, who named her as their first captain in 2022. She is retiring at the end of this season after a remarkable career that has included 163 international caps, four Olympic Games and spells with Rosengard, Bayern Munich and Chelsea, and Sunday is poised to be Angel City's final home game of a season in which the playoffs appear to be beyond them."
"Her decision to retire comes after a year in which she has been through IVF, seen her childhood Los Angeles home burn down and got married, all while attempting to rehabilitate from a chronic nerve injury, so being able to hang up her boots on her own terms, back in Angel City's squad, may be her biggest achievement."
Ali Riley, now 37, will be celebrated in a farewell match for Angel City after a long international and club career. Riley earned 163 caps for New Zealand, played in four Olympic Games and had spells with Rosengard, Bayern Munich and Chelsea. Riley was inspired by Brandi Chastain's 1999 World Cup moment and carried that motivation through her career. Her final season has been affected by a chronic nerve injury that followed a muscle injury in 2023 and months of limited mobility. Riley navigated IVF, the loss of her childhood home to fire and marriage while rehabbing, and chose to retire on her own terms.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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