Defender has history of playing in Germany
Ali Krieger’s leg up on her U.S. teammates since the World Cup ended might be better than the one she had before it started.
Having spent four years playing professionally in Germany, Krieger already knew the country and spoke the language before the U.S. arrived.
Currently without a club affiliation, Krieger is also the only U.S. player to get a true break after the emotionally draining run to the World Cup final.
“I can’t imagine playing right now after such a tournament,” said Krieger, who is scheduled to take part in the Mia Hamm Celebrity Soccer Challenge charity match on Sunday at Kastles Stadium. “I think every other team in the world got a vacation break except us.”
Krieger’s still been busy. Since returning from Germany, she’s been home with her father in Prince William County, met U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard at the Everton/D.C. United friendly, went to Rochester to see a WPS match and New York for the MLS All-Star game, and she’s still hoping to make local soccer camp appearances and go to Florida to visit her mother.
It helps when there isn’t a club breathing down her neck, though plenty would love to have her, both in WPS and overseas. One of the most consistent U.S. players in the World Cup — Krieger played every minute and converted the winning penalty kick against Brazil in the quarterfinals — she is also carefully weighing a number of endorsement offers and hopes to make some decisions next week.
“Anything that I can do individually to help our team is what I want to do,” Krieger said. “I don’t want all that attention because that’s not why I play soccer. I love the game. I love to play, and I’m an athlete.”
Whatever she decides, Krieger’s next 12 months might look remarkably like the last 12, which she planned meticulously to prepare for the World Cup. She wants to do the same ahead of next summer’s Olympics.
“I don’t want to get to a point where I consider the national team a club team,” Krieger said. “It’s a privilege and an honor to play for the national team, but I think that the training that I was in at Frankfurt was the highest level right underneath.”
With all due respect to WPS, Krieger admits trying to persuade her teammates to follow her back overseas.
“I’m like, ‘You guys, it’s so good,'” Krieger said. “In general, taking soccer out of the picture, as an American living overseas, it’s so cool, and I’ve grown so much. Now I can look at my life from a different perspective.”
American soccer fans are unlikely to ever look at her the same again, either.
