USWNT legend and two-time World Cup and Women’s Champions League champion Ali Krieger is perhaps one of the best exponents of women’s football around the world, being an important part of those teams.
The same can be said of her ex-wife Ashlyn Harris, a goalkeeper who also played in the World Cups won by Krieger in 2015 and 2019. The two had a long-term relationship between 2010 and 2023, marrying in 2019.
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Krieger’s words
However, the world champion couple split last year, leaving Krieger traumatized, as she told SELF Magazine in an interview about how she came to realise that Harris had asked her for a divorce.
It turns out that Krieger heard that her wife was divorcing her while she out on the pitch, stating that she would “never forget that moment”.
“I found out at training. I was on the field. And I came off the field, in the locker room, and I was obviously devastated,” she said.
“My entire team came over for a dance party the night the news broke,” Krieger shared.
“All of them. At different times. Until 2 in the morning, we were there, just hanging out, dancing, putting music on YouTube.”
She recounted how friends of hers brought over “wine and flowers, and just… themselves.
“They didn’t even think twice. They didn’t have to ask, they just showed up. They just kept coming in – from right after training, after their meetings, through 2 a.m. My kids were there, we were all there.”
She highlighted the strength that her friends have given her throughout the turmoil.
“Through these past five months, my friends have shown up in ways that I will cherish and remember forever. They are my true people. It’s been so rewarding to see that, because you don’t know how much of an impact you have, even on your personal friends, and when they show up for you, you’re just like, ‘Whoa… thank God.'”
Ali Krieger is currently retired, and played mainly as a defender, both full-back and centre-back, being considered one of the best players in the world in her position, being named in the FIFPro XI in 2016 and being named to the CONCACAF team of the decade by IFFHS.
At club level, she won a women’s Bundesliga with FFC Frankfurt, a Champions League and two DFB Pokal.