Ali Krieger Plays Pivotal Role in U.S. World Cup Win

Spectacular goals get the glory, but strong defense wins games, and the United States proved to have the strongest defense in the game as the back-four made up of Ali Krieger, Julie Johnston, Becky Saurbrunn, and Megan Klingenberg, held strong helping to lead the United States National Women’s National Team to a record third World Cup victory.

Ali Krieger has been a pillar throughout the tournament, playing almost every minute of every game. Extensive playing time is nothing new to Krieger, as she played every minute of all six games that the U.S. played in the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup, only to fall short of victory. Ali Krieger had something to prove this tournament, especially in the final round facing Japan.

Krieger and her teammates from the 2011 team experienced a devastating World Cup loss to Japan, ending their hopes for a cup in penalty kicks. Ali Krieger didn’t have the opportunity to play Japan when the U.S. Olympic team faced them in London in 2012, as Krieger was recovering from a serious injury of a torn ACL and MCL and was unable to play. Facing Japan gave her and her teammates a little more motivation, and Krieger one more opportunity to avenge the the previous loss.

But a knee injury isn’t the only adversity Ali Krieger has overcome to get to the top of the mountain. She explains in her segment of “One Nation. One Team. 23 Stories” how a near-death experience helped her to overcome obstacles, appreciate her journey and return to the game she loves.

Krieger credits much of the accomplishment of the U.S. Women’s National Team to good relationships with the players around her, and constant, quality communication.

“I think that we have that down pat and I think that we’ve done such a great job of really organizing and staying compact and just expecting a lot of that out of each other. I think that it starts with having good communication and that’s also having good relationships with the players around you. As long as you have that good communication, the pressure and cover balance has been excellent for us. We just try and stay comfortable, and confident as a collective group and that’s what I think we’ve done really well at,” Krieger said in an interview with NBC Sports.

Krieger doesn’t seem to have issues with confidence off of the field either. She will be appearing nude in the upcoming issue of ESPN Magazines‘ “The Body Issue,” according to New York Daily News.

“I’m proud of my body, I’m proud of my sport, I’m proud of being a female athlete,” Krieger said in an interview with ESPN.

[Image courtesy of Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images]