She finishes her career with 184 goals scored against 33 different countries and was named the U.S. Soccer Federation’s Athlete of the Year six times – in 2003, 2004, 2007, 2010, 2011 and 2013. But with the American players desperately trying to funnel the ball to Wambach to get the game’s all-time leading scorer a curtain call goal, the USA attack was distorted.
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She made her national team debut on September 9, 2001 and scored her first worldwide goal on April 27, 2002 against Finland. In added time, Emily Sonnett’s header went just over the cross bar.
US President Barack Obama had already tweeted his congratulations to Wambach before the match – won by a 58th-minute goal from China’s Wang Shuang.
Abby Wambach will play her final professional game tonight, putting an end to what has perhaps been the single-greatest career for an American soccer player ever. Now that Wambach has hung up her cleats, she says she’s excited for whatever the future kicks her way.
The game wrapped up the U.S.’s nine-game “Victory Tour” in which it went 7-1-1, outscoring opponents 40-3.
“I think that is why coming in (to play) the last 10-15 minutes of the last few games has been really cool, really important”, Wambach said.
The 35-year-old announced her retirement in October after a 14-year career for the women’s national team. Wambach is credited with transforming soccer in the U.S. She inspires on and off the field.
But it was Wambach’s own controversial comments that defined her farewell.
Her team may have lost, Wednesday may have been an ending, but not a final chapter.
USA forward Abby Wambach reacts during the first half of an global friendly soccer match against China in New Orleans, Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2015. Wambach and her US teammates had been undefeated in their last 104 matches on American soil, winning 91 and drawing the rest. “These women are going to kill it”.
“I literally don’t want to be talked about as it pertains to being a soccer player”.
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However, staff members convinced Wambach that fans would want the opportunity to say goodbye to her, so she decided to make her farewell plans public in October. -Wambach, to the crowd during a post-match interview on the Superdome pitch, before dropping the microphone on the ground for dramatic effect. “I’m all for it because I have opinions and I’m not afraid to say them”. I’ve publicly and personally thanked her many, many times for her leadership, her experience, her spirit, all the awesome things both on and off the field that she has given to both this program and her teammates.
