Wambach says that her body just won’t let her play like a champion anymore and that running and playing in the game of soccer is harder than it used to be.
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However, China won the match 1-0, ending a 104 home-game winning streak for the US team, a tally that dates back to 2004.
The U.S. controlled possession from the start, and tried mightily to get Wambach a goal on her final night.
After that, she will ride off into the sunset, and toward what figures to be a long, successful career as an analyst.
The career scoring leader in worldwide play – for men and women, with 184 goals- kicked off her cleats and hugged each teammate on the field before walking to the bench, smiling, to embrace her coaches and remaining teammates as the crowd chanted her name.
The USWNT takes on China at the Superdome in New Orleans at 5 p.m. Pacific. She’s a two-time Olympic gold medalist and the 2012 FIFA World Player of the Year.
However, the former Germany and Bayern Munich boss has a contract with U.S. Soccer until 2018 and led an impressive campaign at last year’s World Cup as his side reached the last 16 before going out to Belgium in extra time. Her 14 World Cup goals are tied for second-most all time, behind only Marta’s 15. I know that they have given and moved that needle further than any other country in the world, ” Wambach said.
Anyway, the important thing to notice is how Abby Wambach’s statements have been the most damning criticism we have seen in the Jurgen Klinsmann era.
“We won the 2015 World Cup but now we have the 2016 Olympics and we still have to be better and that’s the only way you grow as a group of people and grow the game – and be the trendsetting team of the game”.
Wambach scored four times in the first half to push her total to 160, besting Hamm’s total of 158.
The sport’s top worldwide goal scorer – male or female – made her comments on a Bill Simmons podcast published on Wednesday, adding that there are “too many egos in our men’s program”. It’s not just about her, the player.
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“I literally don’t want to be talked about as it pertains to being a soccer player”. While Wambach’s character, confidence and determination has helped shape her into a dominant player, the soccer star says that she owes a lot of her storied success to family and friends, both soccer and non-soccer alike, who’ve helped her along the way.
