Retiring Ali Krieger out to ruin fellow USWNT icon Megan Rapinoe's last dance with NWSL Championship triumph for Gotham FC

NJ/NY Gotham FC is the third different name for a club that has existed since 2006, first as Jersey Sky Blue, then as Sky Blue FC. As the latter, the New Jersey-based side won the Women's Professional Soccer title in 2009, that the league that preceded the NWSL. But shots at glory have been few and far between in the time since, with this year's appearance in the postseason just its third since the NWSL was formed in 2013. Finishing rock bottom of the standings in 2022, winning just four of its 22 matches, it’s fair to say that Gotham was not a popular pick to make the NWSL Championship game this year.

As an individual, despite having two World Cup titles and a UEFA Women’s Champions League triumph to her name, Krieger herself has only come close to the NWSL’s biggest trophy on one occasion, too, and that was seven years ago. With the Washington Spirit, the defender reached the Championship game, but it was lost to Western New York Flash in the most heart-breaking fashion, on penalties, Krieger missing the first spot-kick.

After five years with the Orlando Pride failed to give her another shot, the Florida side only reaching the postseason once in that time, and her first season with Gotham ending in a last-placed finish, Krieger would’ve been forgiven for coming into 2023, the final year of her career, thinking that her chance of adding that elusive Championship to her long list of achievements had gone.

But her swansong had quite the surprise in store…

Gotham hasn’t been a particularly popular destination for players during its time in the NWSL. For example, when Julia Ashley was chosen by the club in the first round of the 2019 College Draft, despite being a New Jersey native, she opted to go to Sweden. "Just from what I’ve heard in terms of organization, some of the housing issues that they’ve had this past year, I’ve heard some bad things. I think everybody has,” she told The Equalizer at the time.

Indeed, in the Yates report, which mainly outlined the abusive behaviour and sexual misconduct in the NWSL when it was released last October, there were details of those exact issues. “Players reported living in houses with broken windows, cracked floors, leaking ceilings, dried mucus on the walls, and, in one instance, a whole human toenail sitting on a windowsill,” it read.

A lot of work, off the pitch as well as on it, has had to be done to get the team to its first NWSL Championship game, then, and since coming to the club as its general manager in 2021, Yael Averbuch West has done a lot of it.

So, what has Averbuch West changed? Well, one of the most obvious things is that she appointed a new head coach in Juan Carlos Amoros. The Spaniard previously held roles at the Houston Dash and Real Betis, but is best known for his success with Tottenham, helping the English club win three promotions to reach the Women’s Super League.

The number of staff around him was increased to offer more support, the squad was analyzed and rebuilt, and the issues with the facilities have also been addressed. Some of Gotham’s roster moves did appear questionable at times, with some fan favorites moved on, but others offered a glimpse into how strategic the club was growing to be, such as the shock draft-day trade that saw the club acquire USWNT star Lynn Williams.

That meant Gotham went from having the first overall pick in the draft to having the fourth overall pick, and it used that to select Jenna Nighswonger, who has been so good in her first year in the NWSL that she was up for the Rookie of the Year award.

There have been other stand-out moves, too. USWNT defender Kelley O’Hara joined fellow World Cup winner Krieger at the club, promising young talent Bruninha was brought over from Brazil and, midway through the season, another world champion, in Spain striker Esther Gonzalez, added extra firepower to the attack.

The changes have created a positive environment, a place where players want to be and a cohesive team that has a clear style. It’s also given Krieger, who was handed the captain’s armband in another of those clever off-season decisions, a shot of retiring on the highest of highs.

Krieger makes a fantastic captain, too. At 39 years old, she has plenty of experience under her belt, and a lot of that involves the art of winning. Indeed, she won an incredible treble in a five-year spell in Germany with Frankfurt, which included the Champions League, and she has two World Cup titles to her name.

The defender credits her time abroad with developing her as a person, the spell coming when she was still so young - straight out of college, even, and her personality is a crucial part of what makes her a brilliant leader today.

“When I first met Ali, I was just blown away by her genuine personality and how good of a person she is,” Nighswonger, who will complete her first NWSL season on Saturday while Krieger plays the final match of her career, said this week. “She was so welcoming immediately and she creates such a safe space and a good culture in the locker room.

“Going into a new position this year, I was a nervous wreck playing left-back, but she's helped me grow so much. Before every game she always says, 'I got your back’ or ‘I'm here whenever you need me', and that may seem like the most simple sentence in the world, but for me it's just the best thing. That allows me to get forward more, be more aggressive, go harder into tackles, because I know that the captain of our team and the person that's next to me, my left center-back, she believes in me wholeheartedly.”

At times, it has looked like Krieger might not get that big send-off. Gotham only spent one week outside the playoff spots this season, but really nearly fell out of the top six right when it mattered. Having taken a 2-0 lead over the second-from-bottom Kansas City Current on the final weekend, Gotham conceded twice in 10 minutes to leave the team in a precarious position. Had the Current scored, Gotham would have missed out on the postseason. Elsewhere, had the Orlando Pride scored a couple more against a Washington Spirit side reduced to 10, Gotham would have missed out on the postseason.

Fortunately, neither scenario occurred, but the New Jersey-based side still went into the playoffs as an underdog. It claimed the last spot available and had won just one of its last eight matches. However, the team has had something extra motivating it.

“From the last regular season game, where we were celebrating Ali's career, a lot of people thought it was Ali's last game. For the players, for the staff, for the club, it's been the target that it wasn't, that we have to continue,” head coach Amoros told Box 2 Box, a CBS Sports show, earlier this month.

“I think that's an extra motivation for all of us. Ali leads on and off the pitch, with her football, with her personality. We wanted to make sure that we give her the best experience in the last few games. She just wants to win. For us, it's an extra motivation to go on the pitch and try to beat any opposition that comes in front of us.”

Gotham had never won an NWSL playoff match coming into this postseason. That changed in October when, as the sixth seed, it travelled to North Carolina to face the Courage, the third seed, and won 2-0.

Then, in the semifinals, it had to go on the road again to Portland, the reigning champion and No.2 seed. More than 25,000 fans packed into Providence Park to cheer on the Thorns, but were stunned by the visitors, Gotham winning in extra-time thanks to a fantastic goal from Katie Stengel – the former Liverpool striker another fantastic mid-season signing.

“We all just feel this need to keep Ali Krieger in the game and to keep [her] playing,” goalkeeper Mandy Haught said afterwards. “It’s the amazing camaraderie in this group that is just like, ‘We’re going to do this for us and we’re going to do this for Kriegs’. We’re not done yet. We’re going to go all the way.”

And so the stage is set for a script that Hollywood couldn’t have written any better. It’s what Rapinoe and Krieger manifested over text messages earlier this year. It’s what Reign head coach Laura Harvey has called "the fairy tale". It will be Krieger’s Gotham against Rapinoe’s Reign on Saturday night in San Diego.

These two have quite literally conquered the world together (twice), but this weekend one of them will crush the other’s last dream. One of them will fill the gap in their trophy cabinet with that NWSL Championship and the other will never have a chance to do so again.

“Soccer, for me, is definitely not who I am, it's just what I do,” Krieger said this week. “I'm so competitive and I'm determined to win and I'm driven and demanding of myself, supportive of everyone, trying to achieve the same goal.

“But ultimately, it's [about] my lifelong friendships that I've made over the years. I wouldn't have these lifelong friends if I never entered the sport and played the sport for so long. That's something that I'm most proud of.”

No matter what happens, Krieger and Rapinoe will be hugging, laughing and crying together at full-time as the curtain closes on their two truly magnificent careers. But who will enjoy that heartfelt moment with their dear friend as a newly-crowned NWSL champion?