New Zealand captain fears career may be over after nerve injury forced Olympics withdrawal

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New Zealand captain Ali Riley has revealed her football career may be over due to the nerve injury that ruled her out of the Paris Olympics.

The 36-year-old defender was withdrawn from selection on the eve of the Football Ferns’ opening match against Canada at the Games.

“Who I am is not just a soccer player,” Riley told a Q&A session at an event promoting girls in sport in Los Angeles. “What I’ve learned from being a soccer player has made me who I am, but my identity goes so much beyond what I can do on a soccer field.

“And so in those dark, dark moments when I was like, ‘Can I get back?’ I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t run, and then even now, when I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to play soccer again. That’s the reality of the injury I have right now.

“The lessons I’ve learned, the community that supports me and where I have honed my skills to do other things that spark joy, I feel like I can still be the best version of myself even if I can’t go out there and play games any more.”

Riley has made over 160 appearances for New Zealand but has barely played at any level in recent months and she last featured for club side Angel City in April.

After her Olympic campaign was cancelled she wrote on social media that she was suffering a “frustrating, confusing and excruciatingly painful” nerve injury.

“For the past seven months I’ve been struggling with a nerve injury,” she posted. “It’s been frustrating, confusing, and excruciatingly painful in a way that’s hard to describe.

“The Ferns & ACFC medical and performance staff did everything possible to get me healthy for this Olympics (rehab, injections, strength, conditioning, treatment, medication, more injections) and I am so grateful to all of them.

“During this camp there have been bad days along with the good, and due to the unpredictable nature of this injury my coach decided that it would be best for the team to withdraw me completely from the squad.”

Defender Katie Bowen captained New Zealand in Riley’s absence in Paris, where the Ferns lost all three of their group matches.