U.S. women’s home win streak ends in Abby Wambach’s last game

AdAge.com notes that in a Gatorade campaign, the Pittsford native is urging people to “forget me” so that that the game of soccer can move forward.

“The men get paid way more than the women in soccer, yeah, I understand logically the argument about the ratings and that is more global”, she said.

But Wambach, worldwide soccer’s all-time leading goal scorer, reserved some of her most incisive opinions for the topic of improving the US men’s national team.

Wambach said her teammates apologized profusely to her afterward, but she told them, “There’s nothing to be sorry about”.

Abby Wambach made her debut with the US national team in 2001 at the age of 21. She is focused on becoming an advocate for greater equality. And that’s a good thing, “‘ Wambach said, adding: “Evolutionarily speaking, this has gone the way I wanted it to go. “Sorry, Sunil [Gulati, US Soccer president], sorry, US Soccer, but I don’t think the litmus test on him has worked”. The World Cup champions play their final Victory Tour match against China in New Orleans.

Abby has had a somewhat contentious soccer career, but it’s hard to argue with her results.

Fan Stephen Lala lives in New Orleans shows off his signed soccer jersey and says he’s hoping to complete his autograph collection. Nike pulled her teammates together for a video goodbye and it is expected that tonights game will be emotional and be a special send off for one of the sports most famous players. In the buildup to the game, star midfielder Megan Rapinoe tore her ACL in her right knee during a training session on a natural grass field that the players also criticized as being subpar.

“I think it’s pretty fitting that I played 70 minutes and we weren’t able to score a goal”, Wambach joked afterward.

Wambach bowed out with 184 goals, the most by either man or woman in internationals, from 255 matches.

Abby Wambach knows what it takes to win, capturing the World Cup over the summer with the U.S. Women’s National Team. Wednesday was one last chance to watch a player unlike any we’ve ever seen, give our goodbyes and reflect on the greatness she brought soccer in America.

Mia Hamm wrote this piece for Time Magazine back in April , “There are times when Abby just throws the team on her back and wills it to victory when that looks nearly impossible”.

“She is a role model because of her sportsmanship, leadership, and character, and there has never been a moment where I wasn’t proud to say: “That’s my sister!” -Wambach, to the crowd during a post-match interview on the Superdome pitch, before dropping the microphone on the ground for dramatic effect.