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Penn State alum Ali Krieger is settling into the role of football announcer at ESPN

Sakege November 8, 2024

It hasn’t come as a surprise to people who have known Ali Krieger for a while that she has taken an easy step into broadcasting.

After ending her playing days by winning last year’s NWSL championship with Gotham FC, the State of Pennsylvania product (and current university trustee) began making studio work with CBS. In March, ESPN hired her full time. On Sunday, he will be a studio analyst for ABC’s NWSL playoff quarterfinal doubleheader, with the Washington Spirit hosting Bay FC at 12:30 p.m. and Gotham hosting the Portland Thorns at 3 p.m.

“You have about 20 seconds to make your point and express your opinion, but I thought it was incredible, because I love talking about football anyway,” Krieger told The Inquirer. “I think it’s an easier transition after I retire. … It’s a very different dynamic, not participating physically but just analyzing it and talking about it. “I’m getting used to it and I’m getting better and better.”

Krieger began working in front of the camera while still an active player with the Orlando Pride in 2021, working with their MLS brother, Orlando City, for content produced by the team. But before that she knew well that she could do it one day, having appeared on camera so many times as a stalwart of the United States national team.

“They put you in front of the camera from day one and you start learning and doing all that media training that you get used to,” said the now 40-year-old man. “I also watch a lot of games, so you get information here and there. But I think it was always in the back of my mind that I would be a better fit.”

Being the center of attention has also allowed her to assimilate the scale of her playing career: 2015 and 2019. world cup titles with the United States, that NWSL title with Gotham and, back in 2008, becoming the first American to win a European club championship with Germany’s 1. FFC Frankfurt.

“I needed to take some time away from the game,” Krieger said. “I felt like if I jumped into it right away, maybe I would have burned out pretty quickly, and I think I just needed some time to do other things and be with my kids and prioritize myself. And just looking back and thinking about all the professional moments I had, and letting that sink in and processing what had just happened.”

(That was, in part, a reference to his divorce last year from former American teammate Ashlyn Harris after four years of marriage. They adopted two children and live with Krieger in northern New Jersey.)

She would like to start coaching one day, perhaps starting as a defense-focused assistant, naturally, since she played both center back and defender. For now, he said, broadcasting is “a good transition.”

Stars in the playoffs

The four quarterfinals feature great offensive talents. First up is Friday night’s opening match between No. 1 Orlando Pride and No. 8 Chicago Red Stars (8 p.m., Prime Video), with Barbra Banda and Brazilian legend Marta hosting and American star Mallory Swanson for the visitors.

Saturday’s matchup between No. 4 Kansas City Current and No. 5 North Carolina Courage (noon, CBS3) will feature Kansas City’s Temwa Chawinga, who broke the league’s single-season scoring record with the NWSL’s first 20-goal campaign, facing young American Ashley Sanchez of North Carolina and Brazilian Kerolin.

Then comes Sunday, with No. 2 Washington’s Trinity Rodman first atop the marquee. Three years after helping the Spirit win the 2021 title, American superstar and Colombian playmaker Leicy Santos will face a No. 7 Bay team that made the playoffs in her first season. Banda’s Zambia teammate Racheal Kundananji led the San Jose, California-based club to the postseason with Two goals at the end of the regular season.

The last one is the most stellar clash of all. No. 3 Gotham vs. No. 6 Portland pits Rose Lavelle, Lynn Williams, Crystal Dunn and Esther González against Sophia Smith, Olivia Moultrie and Canadian legend Christine Sinclair in their final postseason before retiring.

If you were to bet the chalk on all four games, you would have a good chance of winning. Orlando finished 28 points ahead of Chicago in the standings, and Kansas City finished 16 points ahead of North Carolina. But Krieger is hoping for at least one surprise.

“Actually Bay FC are in very good shape, and I know DC, they have excellent players, but here they have been a bit injury prone and I don’t know if they will all be in top form.” she said. “Portland vs. Gotham is kind of a revenge game for last year’s semifinal (a 1-0 Gotham win at Portland). And you’re also fighting for Christine Sinclair. “You don’t want this to be her last game, you want to take her to the finals and see her come out on top, like Gotham did for me last year.”

A new era on and off the field

It has been a great year for women’s sports to have prominent platforms, from the WNBA to the Olympics. The stars of American women’s soccer have long known those scenes: the historic 1999 World Cup champions, the 2015 team whose victory in the title game attracted nearly 27 million viewers, the 2019 team that triumphed after to sue US Soccer and clash with then and future. President donald trump.

Rodman and Smith head towards the marquee: they were both in last year’s World Cup team and this year’s Olympic gold medal winnersand each already has an NWSL title (Rodman in 2021, Smith in 2022). But they haven’t yet reached the heights reached by Krieger, Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan and the rest of that era.

Is it because of football’s place in the American landscape relative to basketball, or something else? Krieger wondered if it’s partly because Team USA’s new era of players hasn’t yet raised their voices off the field like past eras have. Certainly, over time he caught the attention of his team, often more than his results on the field.

“We’ve all had to use our platforms and fight a little bit more than maybe these younger generations have, which is supposed to happen, right? But it is also an option to do so,” Krieger said. “I think all of those things that we added to our star power, using the platforms that we’ve had over the years, have catapulted most of these players, like Megan Rapinoe, to where they are now.”

It can be argued that the new era of players does not have to be so open, because the national team has now achieved equal pay. They’re also still young, with Rodman being 22 and Smith being 24. Although Rapinoe was always outspoken (and still is), Morgan didn’t step forward until later in her career. Krieger admitted that she was the same way.

“I don’t necessarily think a lot of the younger players are doing that right now,” Krieger said. “Maybe they will in the future.”

What is certain is his talent. It began to show itself in the Olympic Games, and since then the new American coach Emma Hayes has shown in the games that the the talent pool is even deeper. Now Smith and Rodman have a moment to star with their sticks.

“They are already stars in their own right and known around the world as some of the best players who will ever play for the United States women’s national team and soccer in general,” Krieger said. “I’m very grateful that they are getting exactly what they deserve, because of so much of the work that they not only do every day, but that we have done and paved the way for them.”

NWSL Playoff Schedule

Quarter finals

Friday: 1. Orlando Pride vs. 8. Chicago Red Stars, 8 p.m. (Prime Video)

Saturday: 4. Kansas City Current vs. 5. North Carolina Courage, noon (CBS3, Paramount+)

Sunday: 2. Washington Spirit vs. 7. Bay FC, 12:30 pm (6abc, ESPN+) and 3. Gotham FC vs. 6. Portland Thorns, 3:00 pm (6abc, ESPN+)

Semifinals

November 16: First semi-final, noon (CBS3, Paramount+)

November 17: Second semifinal, 2:30 p.m. (6abc, ESPN+)

End

Saturday, November 23: in Kansas City, Missouri, 8 p.m. (CBS3, Paramount+)

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