Soccer Star Ali Riley Graces ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

Local residents may have recognized one of their own on television last week.

Soccer star Ali Riley, who grew up in the Alphabet Streets and played multiple sports while attending St. Matthew’s Parish School, received a rousing ovation from the energetic studio audience when she appeared on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on March 28, flashing her ever-present smile and donning the No. 5 jersey she wears for Angel City Football Club, a Los Angeles based expansion team in the National Women’s Soccer League.        

Upon running in slow motion from the wings of the auditorium to the stage in full uniform and ponytail in recognition of Women’s History Month and to promote the “Running with the Angels” music video, Riley was introduced by host Kimmel’s sidekick Guillermo Rodriguez, leading to the following light-hearted exchange:

Kimmel: Hi Ali.

Riley: Hi guys! Happy Women’s History Month.

Kimmel: Happy Women’s History Month to you too. Why were you running in slow motion?

Riley: Well, the team at Johnnie Walker enlisted Brittany Howard and Tia P. to write an amazing new sports anthem called ‘Running with the Angels’ to celebrate our new team. Every time it starts playing I feel like we just won the championship so I run in slow motion.

Rodriguez: I like it!

Kimmel: I like it too. In fact, let’s have a toast to the Angel City Football Club in slow motion!

With that, Kimmel slowly raised a glass to his lips and took a sip while Rodriguez and Riley proceeded to circle around his desk in slow motion and disappear behind the curtain.   

A fan-favorite wherever she has played, the 34-year-old Riley has become the face of the franchise since being traded to Angel City FC on January 27 and she proved to be a fitting choice to represent her team on the popular ABC late night talk show. In fact, she handled her moment on stage with as much panache as she handles opponents on the pitch.

Angel City FC has many high-profile female investors, among them Hollywood actresses Natalie Portman, Jessica Chastain, Eva Longoria and Palisadian Jennifer Garner, WNBA star Candace Parker, tennis greats Serena Williams and Billie Jean King and former U.S. women’s national soccer team members Julie Foudy, Abby Wambach and Mia Hamm. Playing its home games at Banc of California Stadium in Exposition Park alongside Major League Soccer’s LAFC, Angel City is the Southland’s first LA-area women’s pro team since the Los Angeles Sol of now-defunct Women’s Professional Soccer folded in 2010.

Despite her professional success (she has long been regarded as one of the top players in the world at her position), Riley relishes every chance to return home to the Palisades. The only child of longtime residents John Riley and Bev Lowe, she used to practice dribbling and shooting at the Palisades Recreation Center and she frequently ran the Will Rogers 5K on the Fourth of July with her parents.

After raising eyebrows with her speed and agility at St. Matthew’s, Riley took her skills to Harvard-Westlake High in Studio City. She was named team captain her senior year when she helped the Wolverines to the 2006 Southern Section Division I final. A two-time Mission League Offensive Most Valuable Player, two-time San Fernando Valley first-team pick and  an All-CIF Division I first team selection, she also excelled at the club level for LA Breakers FC (formerly Westside Breakers) and Real SoCal (formerly SoCal United).

Riley ventured north to play for Stanford University from 2006 to 2009, switching from forward to outside back as a junior (she has played fullback ever since). She started her pro career in 2009, appearing in seven games for her hometown Pali Blues (the team’s home venue was Pali High’s Stadium by the Sea) of the United Soccer League, a second tier circuit in the United States and Canada. In 2010, she was drafted by FC Gold Pride of the WPS and was voted “Rookie of the Year” while helping the Bay Area squad to the league crown. She signed with the Western New York Flash in 2011 and led the team to the championship.

After the suspension of the WPS she signed with FC Rosengard (then namd FC Malmo) in 2012 and played there until signing with Chelsea in the English FA Women’s Super League in 2018. The following year she moved to Bayern Munich of the Frauen Bundesliga, the top level of women’s soccer in Germany. In February 2020, she signed a one-year contract with the Orlando Pride but the season was postponed due to the pandemic so Riley returned to Sweden that July to rejoin FC Rosengard—the team she had led to three Damallsvenskan championships (the highest division of women’s soccer in Sweden) from 2013 to 2015.

In addition to her five championships at the pro level, Riley has been a key member of the New Zealand women’s national team since 2007 with 140 caps to her credit and serving as team captain since the 2017 Cyprus Cup. A dual citizen as her father is from New Zealand, she has played in the Summer Olympics four times (2008 in Beijing, 2012 in London, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro and 2020 in Tokyo) and the last four FIFA Women’s World Cups.    

Angel City FC’s roster includes U.S. national team forward Christen Press, who was Riley’s teammate at Stanford and the Pali Blues. In a game that aired on CBS last Saturday, the team took on the San Diego Waves at Torero Stadium in the fourth of its six Challenge Cup Group Stage games before opening the NWSL regular season April 29 against the North Carolina Courage.

Given the poise and confidence she showed on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Riley may be destined for a career in show business when it comes time to hang up the cleats.