Written by Phillip Bupp at Bloguin
Yesterday, arguably the greatest US Soccer player ever, Abby Wambach announced her retirement and will play her final game on December 16. Looking back on her career, it became clear that she wasn’t just a soccer player. Yeah, she spent most of her life playing soccer and the title of “soccer player” is an accurate one, but she has used that platform to help influence many things off the field and that legacy will continue long after she is retired from playing soccer.
Abby Wambach does leave the playing part of the game as one of the best and most successful players in US Soccer history. She has a record 184 goals in 252 games as well as a nine time winner of the Algarve Cup, three time CONCACAF Gold Cup champion, 2004 and 2012 Olympic gold medalist and the pinnacle of her career, the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup championship. The USWNT has been highly influenced by Wambach over the past 14 years with her goalscoring and tenacity with every minute she was on the field.
But like I have said before, Wambach has influenced and will continue to influence many things off the field. From being a philanthropist to being a voice for women and gay rights to being a role model for young girls and even boys as someone to look up to when they play soccer, Abby Wambach has done much more than just play soccer.
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