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Abby Wambach

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Abby Wambach
Wambach warming up with the U.S. women's national team in September 2011
Personal information
Full name Mary Abigail Wambach
Date of birth (1980-06-02) June 2, 1980 (age 44)
Place of birth Rochester, New York, United States
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 Western New York Flash
Number 20
Youth career
1994–1998 Our Lady of Mercy High School
1995–1997 Rochester Spirit
1998–2001 University of Florida
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2002–2003 Washington Freedom 36 (23)
2009–2010 Washington Freedom 39 (21)
2011 magicJack 11 (9)
2013– Western New York Flash 8 (7)
International career‡
2003– United States 207 (160)
Managerial career
2011 magicJack (Player-coach)
Medal record
Women's football
Representing the  United States
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2004 Athens Team competition
Gold medal – first place 2012 London Team competition
World Cup medal record
Bronze medal – third place 2003 United States Team competition
Bronze medal – third place 2007 China Team competition
Silver medal – second place 2011 Germany Team competition
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of June 26, 2013
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of June 20, 2013

Mary Abigail "Abby" Wambach (born June 2, 1980) is an American professional soccer player, coach, two-time Olympic gold medalist, and the 2012 FIFA World Player of the Year. She currently plays for Western New York Flash in the National Women's Soccer League and for the US Women's National Soccer Team. She played college soccer for the University of Florida, where she was a member of a national university championship team and was recognized as a three-time All-American. A five-time winner of the U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year award, she has been a regular on the U.S. women's national team since 2003. Wambach, a forward, currently stands as the highest all-time goal scorer for the USA Women's National Soccer Team, and holds the world record for international goals for both female and male soccer players with 160 goals.

Early life

Wambach hails from Pittsford, New York, the youngest of seven children of Pete and Judy Wambach.[1][2] She began playing soccer at the age of four. In her first youth soccer league, she was transferred from the girls' team to the boys' after scoring twenty-seven goals in only three games.[3]

Wambach attended Our Lady of Mercy High School in Rochester, New York, where she lettered in soccer and basketball.[1] During her high school career she scored 142 goals, including 34 in 1997 alone. Following her senior season, she was named to Parade magazine's high school All-America team and voted national Player of the Year by Umbro and the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA).[1][4] In 1997, she was named NSCAA Regional Player of the Year, NSCAA State of New York Player of the Year, Gatorade Circle of Champions New York Player of the Year, and cited by USA Today as one of the nation's top 10 recruits.[1]

Wambach was a three-year captain for the Rochester Spirit club team and named All-Greater Rochester Player of the Year in 1995 and 1997. She was a member of the Olympic Development Team (ODP) U-16 National Team in 1996, the 1997 National U-20 Player Pool, and trained and played with the U.S. National Team while competing in the 1997 U.S. Soccer Festival in Blaine, Minnesota. In 1997, she traveled to Beijing, China, as a member of the first American youth soccer team to compete there.[1]

College career

Wambach accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, where she played for coach Becky Burleigh's Florida Gators women's soccer team in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) competition from 1998 to 2001.[1] While she played for Florida, the Gators won an NCAA national championship (1998) and four consecutive Southeastern Conference (SEC) championships (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001).[1] Individually, she was the SEC Freshman of the Year (1998), a freshman All-American (1998), a first-team All-SEC selection for four straight seasons (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001), a two-time SEC Player of the Year (2000, 2001), twice received SEC Tournament Most Valuable Player honors (2000, 2001),[1] and was named a first-team All-American her sophomore, junior, and senior seasons (1999, 2000, 2001).[1]

In addition to leading the Gators to the Final Four of the NCAA Women's Soccer Tournament as a senior in 2001, she set school career records for goals (96), assists (49), points (242), game-winning goals (24), and hat tricks (10).[5] Ten years later, she remains the Florida Gators' all-time leading scorer with ninety-six goals. Wambach was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 2012.[6]

Club career

WUSA

Wambach during a Washington Freedom exhibition game in 2004

In 2002, Wambach was the second overall draft pick for the WUSA's second season. She went on to play for the Washington Freedom rather than completing her degree at Florida.

After leading all first-year players in scoring in the league, Wambach was named WUSA Rookie of the Year in 2002. She was Washington's leading scorer with 10 goals, 9 assists and finished tied for fourth for scoring in the WUSA the same year.[7]

Her contributions in Washington, playing alongside forward Mia Hamm, helped to propel the Freedom to a victory in the Founders Cup III (the WUSA championship match) in 2003, where Wambach was named the MVP.[8]

WPS

In the Women's Professional Soccer allocation draft for the 2009 season, Wambach was assigned back to the Washington Freedom.[9] She was voted WPS Player of the Week for the week of April 26 (Week 5) after scoring two goals in the Washington Freedom's 4–3 victory over the FC Gold Pride,[10] the Freedom's first victory in the new league. On May 3, 2009, in the Freedom's next game, she received a yellow card for a tackle on St. Louis Athletica midfielder Daniela that left Daniela with two damaged knee ligaments and a crack in the tibia and sidelined her for the rest of the season.[11] Wambach was suspended for one game after the challenge was reviewed by the WPS commissioner.[12] She won the WPS Player of the Week award for the week of July 28 (Week 18) for scoring two goals against the Chicago Red Stars and Sky Blue FC [13] and for the week of Aug 11 (Week 20) for scoring two goals and having one assist against the Sky Blue[14] She ended the 2009 season with eight goals—more than any other American player in the WPS.[15]

Wambach at Harvard Stadium in August of 2011

Wambach returned to the Washington Freedom for the 2010 WPS season, winning the WPS Player of the Week award in week 2 for scoring one goal and having two assists against the Atlanta Beat.[16]

The Washington Freedom, founded in 2001 as part of the Women's Professional Soccer league, relocated to Boca Raton, Florida and became the magicJack in 2011. On July 22, 2011, Wambach was named the player-coach for the magicJack for the rest of the 2011 WPS season.[17]

On October 26, 2011, the Women's Professional Soccer League Governors voted to terminate the magicJack franchise.[18]

NWSL

On January 11, 2013 Wambach was allocated to the new National Women's Soccer League club Western New York Flash as part of the NWSL Player Allocation.[19]

International career

Wambach's WUSA credentials earned her a spot at the U.S. Women's National Team's training camp, and was named to the 2003 World Cup team. She scored a goal against arch-rival Norway, helping the U.S. team to a position in the semifinals and a bronze medal.

2004 Summer Olympics

After the suspension of the WUSA, Wambach trained with the U.S. Women's National Team for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. Her header in extra time against Brazil gave the U.S. team a 2–1 victory and the gold medal. She finished the year with 31 goals and 13 assists. She finished fourth in the voting for the FIFA Women's World Player of the Year.

After the Athens Olympics, Wambach was a major contributor to the U.S. Women's National Team, playing in the 2005 Algarve Cup and a number of exhibition games. The team ended the 2005 season without allowing a single goal.

At the end of 2006, Wambach had 66 goals in 84 international matches, scoring more goals in fewer games than any player since Michelle Akers. She was one of twenty players nominated for FIFA Women's World Player of the Year for 2006; she was not named as a finalist.

2007 FIFA Women's World Cup

During the 2007 Women's World Cup, Wambach scored six goals in six matches, despite receiving 11 stitches to her head after a collision with Ri Kum-Suk,[20] a North Korean player, in the first game. In the quarterfinal match against England on September 22, 2007, she became the twentieth American woman, and thirtieth American soccer player overall,

2008 Summer Olympics

Wambach was named to the 2008 U.S. Olympic Women's Soccer Team on June 23, 2008.[21] In the final match before the Olympics on July 16, she broke her left leg in a collision with Brazilian defender Andréia Rosa,[22] preventing her from playing in the Beijing Olympics. Wambach was the team's leading scorer and had just reached 99 goals, one shy of becoming the fifth U.S. player and ninth female player in world history to notch 100 career international goals.[23]

Her 100th goal was scored in a friendly match against Canada in her hometown of Rochester on July 19, 2009. She reached 100 goals in fewer games than any of the four other American players who had previously reached 100 goals: (Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly, Michelle Akers and Tiffeny Milbrett).[24]

2011 FIFA Women's World Cup

On May 9, 2011, the U.S. roster for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup tournament in Germany was announced, including Wambach.[25] The 2011 Women's World Cup tournament is the third in which she has played. After playing without scoring a goal in the USA's first two group stage matches against North Korea and Colombia, Wambach opened her tournament scoring in a 2–1 loss to Sweden in Team USA's final group stage match. Having lost to Sweden, the USA WNT finished second in their group and went on to face Group D first-place finishers Brazil.

On July 10, 2011, during the USA Women's National team's quarterfinal game against Brazil, Wambach scored a header goal in stoppage time after the 120th minute (120th+2 minute injury time) to even the score at 2–2 against the Brazilians; Team USA went on to win the game on penalty kicks and advanced to the semi-finals.[26] In all World Cup matches – men's or women's – her goal stands as the latest ever scored. Her last-minute goal was awarded ESPN's 2011 ESPY Award for Best Play of the Year. Wambach scored her third goal for USA in Team USA's semi-final 3–1 win over France.

In the final against underdogs Japan, Wambach's trademark header goal during the first half of extra-time (her fourth in the tournament), made her the United States' all-time scoring leader in FIFA Women's World Cup history with 13 goals, second to Brazil's Marta and Germany's Birgit Prinz (14 all-time goals each). Team USA was forced to a penalty shootout after a late equalizer by Japan. Japan won 3–1, with Wambach converting the fourth and only penalty.

Wambach's final goal tally for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup was four goals and one assist, an effort that earned her the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup Bronze Boot after Brazil's Marta (4 goals, 2 assists, Silver Boot) and Japan's Homare Sawa (5 goals, 1 assist, Golden Boot). Interestingly, all 4 of Wambach's goals in the tournament were scored using her head.[27] For her efforts, Wambach was awarded the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup Silver Ball to go alongside her Silver Medal and Bronze Boot.[28]

2012 Summer Olympics

Gold medal match in 2012 London Olympics. Left to right: Asuna Tanaka-14, Abby Wambach-14, Hope Solo-1, Becky Sauerbrunn-4

On July 25, 2012, Wambach scored the first goal for the USA in a 4–2 win against France at the 2012 Summer Olympics.[29] During the USA's second group round game against Colombia, Wambach was struck in the right eye by an opposing player, but went on to score the second goal in her team's 3–0 victory.[30][31] She also scored the game-tying third goal, on a penalty kick, in the United States' 4–3 semifinal win over Canada.

Player statistics

Club

League Year G A PTS
WUSA 2002 10 10 20
WUSA 2003 13 7 20
WPS 2009 8 5 13
WPS 2010 13 8 21
WPS 2011 9 2 11
NWSL 2013 7 4 11

International goals

Main article: List of international goals scored by Abby Wambach

As of June 20, 2013, Wambach has scored 160 goals in 207 international matches. With her 160 goals, Wambach is currently the leading world all-time international scorer for men and women.[32] Wambach (27 goals) and Alex Morgan (28 goals) combined for 55 goals in 2012 – equaling a 21-year-old record set in 1991 by Michelle Akers (39 goals) and Carin Jennings (16 goals) as the most goals scored by any duo in U.S. women's national team history.[33]

World Cup and Olympic appearances and goals

Abby Wambach competed in three FIFA Women's World Cup: 2003 USA, 2007 China and 2011 Germany; and two Olympics: 2004 Athens and 2012 London; altogether played 29 matches and scored 22 goals at those five global tournaments.[26] Wambach with her USA teams won two Olympic gold medals, finished third twice at the Women's World Cup, and finished second at Germany 2011 World Cup.

Key (expand for notes on "world cup and olympic goals")
Location Geographic location of the venue where the competition occurred
Lineup Start – played entire match
on minute (off player) – substituted on at the minute indicated, and player was substituted off at the same time

off minute (on player) – substituted off at the minute indicated, and player was substituted on at the same time
(c) – captain

Min The minute in the match the goal was scored. For list that include caps, blank indicates played in the match but did not score a goal.
Assist/pass The ball was passed by the player, which assisted in scoring the goal. This column depends on the availability and source of this information.
penalty or pk Goal scored on penalty-kick which was awarded due to foul by opponent. (Goals scored in penalty-shoot-out, at the end of a tied match after extra-time, are not included.)
Score The match score after the goal was scored.
Result The final score.

W – match was won
L – match was lost to opponent
D – match was drawn
(W) – penalty-shoot-out was won after a drawn match
(L) – penalty-shoot-out was lost after a drawn match

aet The score at the end of extra-time; the match was tied at the end of 90' regulation
pso Penalty-shoot-out score shown in parentheses; the match was tied at the end of extra-time
Orange background color – Olympic women's football tournament
Blue background color – FIFA women's world cup final tournament

Honors and awards

Wikinews has related news:

Wambach is a five-time winner of the U.S. Soccer Federation's U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year award (2003, 2004, 2007, 2010, 2011) and was named Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year for 2011.[34]

In 2011, she was awarded the Bronze Boot and Silver Ball at the FIFA Women's World Cup. Wambach was also awarded the 2011 ESPN ESPY Award for Best Play for her 122nd-minute equalizing goal against Brazil during the quarterfinal.[35]

She was a finalist for the FIFA World Player of the Year in 2011 and 2012.[36][37][38] Abby was awarded the 2012 FIFA World Player of the Year.[39][40]

Personal life

Wambach lives in Portland, Oregon and Buffalo, New York.[41] She has an English bulldog named Kingston.[42]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i GatorZone.com, Soccer History, 2001 Roster, Abby Wambach. Retrieved May 3, 2011.
  2. ^ "Abby Wambach : Biography". Retrieved December 23, 2009.
  3. ^ "Bio". Retrieved December 22, 2009.
  4. ^ Michael O'Shea, "Meet Parade's All-America High School Girls' Soccer Team," Parade, p. 12 (February 22, 1998). Retrieved July 17, 2011.
  5. ^ "Official Site Of Abby Wambach". Retrieved December 23, 2009.
  6. ^ "Florida Announces 2012 UF Athletic Hall of Fame Inductees," GatorZone.com (September 7, 2011). Retrieved September 24, 2011.
  7. ^ "Luckenbill, Wambach lead postseason award winners". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
  8. ^ "WUSA: Wambach leads Freedom in Founders Cup thriller". Soccer America. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
  9. ^ Goff, Steven (September 17, 2008). "Wambach in League With Freedom Again". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 17, 2008.
  10. ^ "Wambach voted WPS Player of the Week". Washington Freedom. April 28, 2009. Archived from the original on May 14, 2009. Retrieved May 12, 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ "Daniela sidelined indefinitely with knee injury". Women's Professional Soccer. May 5, 2009. Retrieved May 12, 2009.
  12. ^ "Wambach, McNeill receive one-game suspensions". Women's Professional Soccer. May 7, 2009. Archived from the original on May 11, 2009. Retrieved May 12, 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ "Wambach selected Week 18 WPS Player of the Week". Women's Professional Soccer. July 28, 2009. Retrieved August 2, 2009.
  14. ^ "Wambach selected Week 20 WPS Player of the Week". Women's Professional Soccer. July 28, 2009. Retrieved November 17, 2009.
  15. ^ "WPS Season Ends with Celebration of League's Best". Women's Professional Soccer. July 28, 2009. Retrieved November 17, 2009.
  16. ^ "Wambach selected Week 2 WPS Player of the Week". Women's Professional Soccer. April 20, 2010. Retrieved August 10, 2010.
  17. ^ Wambach hired to coach her pro team
  18. ^ "WPS aims to survive more turmoil". ESPN. Retrieved July 2, 2013.
  19. ^ "NWSL announces allocation of 55 National Team Players to Eight Clubs". US Soccer. January 11, 2013.
  20. ^ "Abby bleeds red, white and blue". FIFA. September 13, 2007. Archived from the original on December 21, 2007. Retrieved October 5, 2007.
  21. ^ 2008 U.S. Olympic Women's Soccer Team. USA Soccer (June 23, 2008)
  22. ^ Associated Press, "Wambach's broken leg mars US win over Brazil," Yahoo Sports (July 16, 2008).
  23. ^ "U.S. Women Defeat Norway, 4–0, in Fredrikstad; Wambach Scores 99th Career International Goal". US Soccer. July 2, 2008. Retrieved July 3, 2008. [dead link]
  24. ^ "Abby Wambach Scores 100th Career Goal in Hometown As U.S. Women Defeats Canada 1–0". US Soccer. July 19, 2009. Retrieved August 2, 2009. [dead link]
  25. ^ "Hope Solo back for Women's World Cup," ESPN.com (May 9, 2011). Retrieved May 9, 2011.
  26. ^ a b "FIFA Player Statistics: Abby Wambach". FIFA.com. Retrieved July 17, 2011.
  27. ^ "FIFA Women's World Cup: Statistics – Players". FIFA.com.
  28. ^ [1][dead link]
  29. ^ "US comeback stuns France". Fédération Internationale de Football Association. July 26, 2012. Retrieved July 25, 2012.
  30. ^ The Associated Press (July 28, 2012). "Olympics 2012: Megan Rapinoe, Abby Wambach and Carli Lloyd find the back of the net to lead U.S. women's soccer team past Colombia". NY Daily News.
  31. ^ "'They were hitting US': Colombian women's soccer player blames American team's dirty play after she's SUSPENDED for giving Abby Wambach a black eye". Daily Mail. July 30, 2012.
  32. ^ "Abby Wambach Becomes All-Time Leading Scorer with Four Goals in 5-0 Win vs. Korea Republic". US Soccer. June 20, 2013. Retrieved June 20, 2013.
  33. ^ "Wambach scores twice as U.S. women beat China". USA Today. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
  34. ^ "Wambach wins Female Athlete of the Year". Fox Sports. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
  35. ^ "ESPN ESPY Awards 2011: Abby Wambach Scores Big for Team USA with Best Play". Bleacher Report. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
  36. ^ "Ballon d'Or 2012". FIFA. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
  37. ^ "Abby Wambach". FIFA. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
  38. ^ "Lionel Messi aims for historic 4th best player honor; Abby Wambach up for FIFA award". Washington Post. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
  39. ^ "U.S. forward Wambach named world's best player". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
  40. ^ "Messi, Wambach, Del Bosque & Sundhage triumph". FIFA. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
  41. ^ "U.S. team star Abby Wambach leaves her Portland home to anchor New York NWSL club". The Oregonian. Retrieved May 21, 2013.
  42. ^ "Abby Wambach". US Soccer. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
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