Abby Wambach

American football player Abby Wambach is a two-time Olympic champion winning gold in 2004 in Athens and in 2012 in London, missing the 2008 Olympics with a broken leg. Winning the Women’s World Cup in 2010 defeating Japan in the final, Wambach played in three other World Cups winning bronze in 2003 and 2007, and silver in 2011. All totalled, she played in 29 matches, scoring 22 goals at these six tournaments. Wambach was named the 2012 FIFA World Player of the Year, the first American in a decade. She delivered one of the 2011 World Cup’s most electrifying moments with an extra-time header to help beat Brazil in the quarter-finals, ending the tournament with the Bronze Boot and Silver Ball. The USA finished third at the 2007 World Cup, with Wambach claiming the Silver Shoe as the tournament’s second-leading scorer. Wambach led her team to a bronze medal finish at the 2003 World Cup. Known for scoring goals with diving headers, six-times Wambach has been named the US Soccer Athlete of the Year. She is the highest all-time goal scorer for the national team and holds a world record for international goals (for both male and female) with 184.

Wambach played professionally for the Washington Freedom (2002-2003, 2009-2010), magicJack (2011), and the Western New York Flash (2013-2014). She announced her retirement in October 2015, playing her last game on December 16 in New Orleans, Louisiana at the end of the USA’s Victory Tour following its’ win at the 2015 World Cup.

Born in Rochester, New York, USA, Wambach is the youngest of seven siblings (two sisters, four brothers) where she honed her competitive skills. While playing in her first youth soccer league at age five, she was transferred from the girls’ team to the boys’ after scoring 27 goals in only three games. As a pre-teen, she began eluding defenders by heading the ball over them and running around them. Wambach was voted National High School Player of the Year by National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA). She attended the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, USA where she played football on a full athletic scholarship from 1998 to 2001, leading the team to their first collegiate championships in her first year. She remains the schools’ all-time leading scorer with 96 goals.