A midfielder in her playing days, Riise was crowned as the 1995 world player of the year and was also an Olympic, World Cup and European Championship winner during a career that saw her score 58 goals in 188 internationals.

Growing up, she started off playing in a boys' team at the age of six until she was 14 when she went into women's football with Setskog-Holand where she won the Norwegian Cup in 1992.

Three years later, she made a move to Japan to join Nikko Securities Dream Ladies where she won the league and cup in 1996 and 1997 before returning to her homeland in 2000 and signing for Oslo-based Asker FK where she added another domestic cup honour to her name.

Moving to the USA later that year, she was drafted by Carolina Courage where the success continued with a WUSA Founders Cup title in 2002 and being rated as the MVP for two successive seasons. 

This success led to the Norwegian federation naming her as the best Norwegian female footballer of all-time in 2003

After retiring as a player in 2006 following a spell with Team Strommen, she moved into coaching and helped LSK Kvinner dominate the Norwegian league, with six consecutive titles for the Lillestrom-based club who she served as head coach since 2017.

Before that, she was assistant coach of the United States, helping guide the team to the final of the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2011 and winning Olympic gold in 2012. 

Back to Squad