Palisadian Ali Riley Will Play Soccer In The Paris Olympics

PACIFIC PALISADES, CA — Angel City Football Club captain Ali Riley, who was born and raised in Pacific Palisades, is heading to the Olympics.

Riley, 36, will play for New Zealand, her father's homeland. It will mark the fifth Olympics Riley has played for the soccer team; she's also played in five FIFA Women's World Cups and been the Ferns' captain since 2017.

The defender has also played for Angel City since its inaugural 2022 season.

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Riley recalled growing up in the Palisades and going to the 1999 Women's World Cup at the Rose Bowl, dreaming that someday she'd play in the tournament.

After graduating from Harvard-Westlake School and Stanford University, she planned to play with the LA Sol. But that team folded and left her with a 13-year gap before she could return to her hometown to play soccer.

Riley played for Stanford from 2006-09, for FC Gold Pride in 2010 and the Western New York Flash in 2011 in the defunct Women's Professional Soccer, for the Swedish first division team Rosengard from 2012-18 and in 2020 (it was known as LdB FC Malmo before December 2013), Chelsea of the English FA Women's Super League in the 2018-19 season, and Germany's Bayern Munich in the 2019-20 season.

Angel City held an Olympics sendoff celebration for Riley following July 6's 2-1 loss to NJ /NY Gotham FC at BMO Stadium, which featured three Māori dancers.

New Zealand is set to face Canada in the first Olympic group match in Saint-Etienne on July 25.