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New Zealand captain fears his career could be over after being forced to withdraw from Olympics due to nerve injury

New Zealand captain Ali Riley has announced that her football career may be over due to a nerve injury that ruled out her participation in 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The 36-year-old defender was withdrawn from selection on the eve of the Football Ferns' opening match against Canada at the Games.

“I'm not just a soccer player,” Riley said during a Q&A session at an event promoting girls' sports in Los Angeles. “What I learned as a soccer player has made me who I am, but my identity goes far beyond what I can do on a soccer field.”

“And in those dark, dark moments when I thought, 'Can I come back?' I couldn't walk, I couldn't run, and even now I don't know if I'll ever be able to play football again. That's the reality of the injury that I have now.

“The lessons I've learned, the community that supports me, and where I've honed my skills to do other things that bring me joy make me feel like I can still be the best version of myself even though I can't go out and play games anymore.”

Riley has played over 160 games for New Zealand, but has barely featured at any level in recent months, with her last appearance coming for her club Angel City in April.

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

“For the past seven months I have been battling a nerve injury,” she posted. “It has been frustrating, confusing, and unbearably painful in ways that are hard to describe.”

“The medical and sporting staff at Ferns & ACFC have done everything possible to get me healthy for these Olympics (rehab, injections, strength and conditioning, treatment, medication, more injections) and I am so grateful to them all.

“There have been good days and bad days during this camp, and due to the unpredictability of this injury, my coach decided it would be best for the team to remove me from the squad completely.”

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

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