Abby Wambach Plays Final Match, Urges ‘Forget Me’ in Moving Ad

China PR put a damper on Abby Wambach’s retirement celebration, defeating the US Women’s National Team 1-0 Wednesday in front of a record crowd of 32,950 at the Superdome.

The career scoring leader in global play – for men and women, with 184 goals- kicked off her cleats and hugged each teammate on the field before walking to the bench, smiling, to embrace her coaches and remaining teammates as the crowd chanted her name.

In the final game of her illustrious career, Abby Wambach jumped over the Superdome boards, trying to avoid being offside.

China struggled to get the ball out of their own half for long periods, but scored on a rare attacking foray when Wang Shuang connected with a cross in the 58th minute, her shot deflecting past a wrong-footed American goalkeeper Hope Solo.

“We know that Abby is a legend”, she said of Wambach, who wore the captain’s armband on Wednesday night. Her teammates still wanted her to finish with just one more.

New York City FC midfielder Diskerud, the son of an American mother and Norwegian father, was raised in Norway and represented his native country at the Under-18 and U-19 levels before committing to the U.S.

Talking about the strong women she won the 2015 World Cup with, Abby could barely hold herself together.

The 35-year-old announced her retirement in October after a 14-year career for the women’s national team. But we did get that final goodbye, as Wambach took off her boots and received a raucous ovation when the substitution finally came. “You know, when you get into those big-time tournaments people have to step up and play their part and play their role”. Even though she’s been well past her prime, Wambach was still seen as the talisman, and the team tried to use her as the engine. Wambach and her US teammates had been undefeated in their last 104 matches on American soil, winning 91 and drawing the rest. “It was very emotional for me. I love watching him play, and I love Fabian Johnson, and he plays in Germany (for Borussia Monchengladbach) and is actually killing it right now after being sent home (from a U.S. Soccer camp by Klinsmann) for ‘faking an injury.’ I think this experiment that U.S. Soccer has given Jürgen isn’t one that, personally, I’m into”.

And if you’re US national team coach Jurgen Klinsmann, best look away now.

Wambach has won the FIFA World Player of the Year award and has been the face of women’s soccer and now she will move on and so will the national team. Although he says he has, I don’t think that he has.

“I’m not bashing U.S. Soccer here”. She carried on a legacy as she created her own. “The standard is even higher, and that’s the way it should be”, Wambach said. At the same time, she sounded certain she’d never coach another player quite like Wambach.