Abby Wambach has been known to describe herself as a “goofball,” but she leaves that laid-back side of her nature on the sidelines come game time. In barely three years, she has established herself as the most formidable offensive player on the U.S. Women’s National Team, dominant in the air and all but unstoppable on the ground.
Abby was the USA’s leading scorer in the 2003 Women’s World Cup, with three goals, including a critical header in the team’s 1-0 quarterfinal win over Norway. She entered the 2004 Athens Olympic Games with an impressive streak of 14 goals in 16 games.
After the World Cup, Abby was named U.S. Soccer’s Female Player of the Year for 2003. The award capped a stellar year that also included a WUSA Founder’s Cup Championship with the Washington Freedom, a WUSA scoring championship (shared with Freedom and WNT teammate Mia Hamm) and MVP honors in the Founder’s Cup final.
Abby has attracted attention on the soccer field since early childhood. She played in her first youth league at age four, and was transferred from the girls’ to the boys’ team after scoring 27 goals in three games. She probably felt right at home with the boys’ team, since her childhood was spent roughhousing with four older brothers (she’s the youngest of seven children).
After playing soccer and basketball in high school, Abby focused on soccer at the University of Florida. She was named All-SEC for four straight seasons, conference Player of the Year twice, and led the Gators to the NCAA Final Four in 2001, her senior year. She set school career records for goals (96), assists (49), points (241), game-winning goals (24) and hat tricks (10).
Also in 2001, she caught the eye of U-21 National Team coach Jerry Smith (husband of her now-WNT teammate, Brandi Chastain), who convinced her that, with a lot of hard work, she could earn a spot on the senior national team. She began training with a new sense of purpose, and made her WNT debut with that year’s Nike U.S. Women’s Cup.
In 2002, she was the second player taken in the WUSA draft, and became Hamm’s teammate on the Washington Freedom. With Mia as mentor, Abby polished her physical skills and sharpened her ability to read the game. As importantly, she learned how to stay focused on the game while being targeted by opponents for whom the only way to stop her was to knock her down, and to constantly keep striving to improve.
By 2003, Wambach and Hamm were the WUSA’s most lethal scoring tandem, combining for 66 points as the Freedom stormed to the league title. National Team coach April Heinrichs was quick to take advantage of the pair’s chemistry. Abby started nine of her 14 WNT games that year, including all five Women’s World Cup matches.
During two WUSA seasons, Abby collected 23 goals and 17 assists in 37 games. Entering the Athens Olympics, she had 40 caps and 28 goals, and was arguably the USA’s most dependable goal-scorer.
When not playing soccer, Abby unwinds by playing video games, listening to music and reading. She likes mountain biking and camping, and would someday like to hike the Appalachian Trail.
