Abby Wambach

Mary Abigail Wambach (born June 2, 1980) is an American retired soccer player, coach, and member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

Wambach attended Our Lady of Mercy High School in Rochester from 1994 to 1998, where she lettered in soccer and basketball.

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 Program (ODP) U-16 National Team in 1996, the 1997 National U-20 Player Pool, and trained and played with the U.S. women's national soccer team while competing in the 1997 U.S. Soccer Festival in Blaine, Minnesota.

During her high school career, she scored 142 goals, including 34 in 1997 alone.

Mercy's soccer coach, Kathy Boughton, recalled that Wambach often stayed after practice to practice diving headers – a skill that later became her signature as an international player.

Following her senior season, Wambach was named to Parade magazine's High School All-America Team.

She was also voted national high school player of the year by Umbro and the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA).

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.

In 1997, she traveled to Beijing, China, as a member of the first American youth soccer team to ever compete there.

Considered the top college recruit in 1997, Wambach was intensely sought after by numerous colleges, including top soccer programs such as the University of North Carolina, UCLA, the University of Portland, and the University of Virginia.

After sticking with her commitment to her parents to visit five schools, Wambach accepted a full athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, where she played for coach Becky Burleigh's Florida Gators women's soccer team from 1998 to 2001.

Florida's program had only been in existence for three years; however, the challenge of joining a less established team over a team like North Carolina with a long history of championship titles appealed to Wambach.

As a freshman in 1998, Wambach helped lead the Gators to their first NCAA national championship over the 15-time champion North Carolina Tar Heels.

A six-time winner of the U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year award, Wambach was a regular on the U.S. women's national soccer team from 2003 to 2015, earning her first cap in 2001.

As a forward, she currently stands as the highest all-time goal scorer for the national team and is second in international goals for both female and male soccer players with 184 goals, behind Canadian Christine Sinclair.

Wambach competed in four FIFA Women's World Cup tournaments: 2003 in the United States, 2007 in China, 2011 in Germany, and 2015 in Canada, being champion of the last edition; and two Olympics tournaments: 2004 in Athens and 2012 in London, winning the gold medal in both.

All together, she played in 29 matches and scored 22 goals at these five international tournaments.

She played college soccer for the Florida Gators women's soccer team and helped the team win its first NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship.

She played at the professional level for Washington Freedom, magicJack, and the Western New York Flash.

Known for scoring goals with diving headers, a technique she began honing as a youth in her hometown of Rochester, New York, one of her most notable header goals occurred in the 122nd minute of the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup quarterfinal match against Brazil.

Wambach scored the equalizer in stoppage time helping the Americans to eventually progress to the championship final against Japan after defeating Brazil in penalty kicks.

Her last-minute goal set a new record for latest goal ever scored in a match and was awarded ESPN's 2011 ESPY Award for Best Play of the Year.

Following her performance at the 2011 World Cup, she was awarded the tournament's Bronze Boot and Silver Ball.

In 2011, she became the first ever soccer player of either sex to be named Athlete of the Year by the Associated Press.

Wambach was awarded the 2012 FIFA World Player of the Year, becoming the first American woman to win the award in ten years.

She was included on the 2015 Time 100 list as one of the most influential people in the world.

Wambach announced her retirement on October 27, 2015.

Her last game was played on December 16 in New Orleans when the United States played its last match of its 10-game Victory Tour following its win at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup.

Her autobiography, Forward, released in September 2016, became a New York Times best seller.

Her second book, Wolfpack: How to Come Together, Unleash Our Power and Change the Game, based on her viral commencement speech at Barnard College, was also a New York Times Bestseller in 2019.

Born in Rochester, New York, Wambach was raised in the Rochester suburb of Pittsford.

She is the youngest of seven siblings (with two sisters and four brothers) born to Pete and Judy Wambach.

She began playing soccer at the age of four after her sister decided she wanted to try the sport.

Their mother checked out a book from the library explaining how to play the game, and from then on soccer became part of their family tradition.

"I think I was bred to do what I do now", Wambach said in an interview.

"Growing up as the youngest of seven was like being in a team environment, you learn all kinds of things ... I learned how to compete, my brothers and sisters always played with me on the same level and they never let me win until I was better than them and deserved it. Being in such a big family makes you humble. You might have a certain skill or talent but there is always someone who is better at something than you."

Wambach recalls being toughened up by her elder brothers firing hockey pucks at her for target practice.

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.