USA team officials said Wambach, who was named captain for her final game, would not play the full 90 minutes Wednesday but it was unclear at what point she would take her last curtain call on the global stage.
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“I think it was pretty fitting in that I played 70 minutes and we weren’t able to score a goal”, Wambach told broadcaster Fox Sports.
This match is the second visit for the U.S. Women to Louisiana, but it’s the first time they’re playing in the dome.
And if that announcement didn’t make US soccer fans sob, Gatorade’s new commercial titled “Forget Me” released Wednesday, featuring the soccer star, will.
“I set out and accomplished everything I had ever dreamt of”, Wambach said. After that, she will ride off into the sunset, and toward what figures to be a long, successful career as an analyst. The fact that an openly gay woman who kissed her wife on live TV after this year’s World Cup championship holds the record for most worldwide goals scored is truly inspiring.
According to Forbes, Wambach’s career highlights include two Olympic gold medals and a World Cup.
Wambach’s comments on Klinsmann can be found around the 37-minute mark below. The World Cup champions play their final Victory Tour match against China in New Orleans. “Although he says he has, I don’t think he has”.
“Her superpower on the field is absolute fearlessness. She’s the type of player that really will just throw her body out there, do whatever possible”. While the legend had a few chances, she and the team came up empty. “When thinking about her retirement, we wanted to honor and celebrate Abby and her tremendous impact on the game while supporting her final message to fans with a campaign inspired by her own words”.
On the field at the Superdome, it was a tight match. “What she has ahead of her is going to be remarkable”.
Some of the greats in women’s soccer were drawn to the Superdome for the game, including Mia Hamm and Brandi Chastain, who starred on the 1999 World Cup-winning squad. That’s her thing. She’s a vocal leader.
Official US Soccer banners lining field-level walls and covering the tunnels to the locker rooms read, “Only one Abby”.
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Wambach will retire from professional soccer after Wednesday’s friendly with China. They also lost superstar striker Alex Morgan to an apparent hamstring injury in the first half, though China also lost a starter – Ren Guixin – to an injury early. She’s already risen to become the top global scorer – male or female – in soccer history.
