FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Sports

Abby Wambach's Fall From Grace

Abby Wambach is one of the greatest women's soccer players of all time. But her recent play has put the U.S. national team in a precarious position.
Erich Schlegel-USA TODAY Sports

The United States national soccer team survived its first Women's World Cup elimination game Monday night against Colombia despite Abby Wambach missing a penalty kick by launching it high and to the left, an errant strike that felt about a million miles off frame. Goals by Alex Morgan and Carli Lloyd helped overcome Wambach's mistake in the 2-0 win, but the veteran striker nonetheless tweeted after the game: "That's my bad."

Advertisement

There has been a lot of bad from Wambach during this World Cup. She still has a chance to help the U.S. win the trophy, but maybe for the first time ever, American fans and media—and probably even her teammates—aren't quite so sure what to make of the decorated striker. This isn't the last gasp hero of 2011, or the 2012 FIFA Women's World Player of the Year.

Read More: Why Is the Rhetoric So Amped When We Talk About Hope Solo?

This is Abby Wambach, 35, in the last stages of her career, endlessly complaining about turf, or the referees, while at the same time showing the normal signs of on-field decline that we see in aging athletes. More often than not, the end isn't pretty.

Wambach is inarguably one of the greatest players in American history. But as her ability erodes, the U.S. team finds itself facing a difficult choice: Heading into a dangerous Friday quarterfinal match against China, the squad can start Christen Press or Amy Rodriguez in place of the struggling Wambach, a move that would require completely changing their style of play, or they can simply continue playing to Wambach's strengths and hope for a revival.

Statistical analysis of Wambach's World Cup play has not been kind. She has scored just one goal, and the team has been underperforming with her on the field. However, benching Wambach isn't an easy decision for U.S. manager Jill Ellis. Rodriguez and Press both are in form. Both have been very successful in the NWSL. But neither has a style of play that matches Ellis' system.

Advertisement

Meanwhile, the defensive performances of Becky Sauerbrunn and Julie Johnston—plus having Hope Solo in goal—have allowed the U.S. team the opportunity to be wasteful in front of goal and still win. It won't be pretty, the media and diehard fans will hate it, but the U.S.'s greatest chance of success at this point is to keep playing their beleaguered all-time scoring forward.

Abby Wambach takes a penalty kick against Colombia. Spoiler alert: She missed. Photo by Erich Schlegel-USA TODAY Sports

It's remarkable to think how quickly things have changed for Wambach.

On June 20, 2013, at Red Bull Arena, 18,961 fans thunderously cheered Wambach's four goals in the first half against the Korea Republic—the 157th, 158th, 159th, and 160th goals of her career, which broke Mia Hamm's all-time scoring record. After the record-breaking goal—a flick header—Megan Rapinoe leaped into Wambach's arms, and the substitutes rushed the field. The celebration seemed to last forever.

That was then.

The turn seemingly started in March, when Wambach decided to skip playing in the National Women's Soccer League for the entirety of 2015. At the time, she was still a member of the Western New York Flash. Her prepared statement read matter-of-factly: "At this stage of my career I know what I need to prepare mentally and physically for this summer. My sole focus is to help bring a World Cup back to the U.S."

Wambach has since come under fire for her comments about the artificial turf used in the World Cup in Canada—despite the fact she has not been the lone dissenter on this issue, and despite the fact that a lawsuit was brought against FIFA by a number of players regarding the tournament's playing conditions. This week, she also insinuated in her postgame comments after the knockout round win against Colombia that the referee of Monday's match had "purposefully" given yellow cards to Rapinoe and Lauren Holiday, which earned them suspensions for Friday's quarterfinal.

Advertisement

Late Tuesday night, Wambach apologized via Fox Soccer for potentially offending the referee. Only Wambach knows whether her apology was actually an expression of remorse, or whether the motivation was to avoid a suspension.

There are other moments from her career, other decisions that cannot be ignored as part of her legacy, but that have been mostly overlooked because of her stellar play. Her relationship with the late Dan Borislow has mostly faded from memory, but still lingers with those who watched his ill-fated and destructive tenure in the Women's Professional Soccer league. Borislow's time as owner of magicJACK (the soccer team, named after the phone service that made him rich) is worth remembering.

Wambach was at least willing to acknowledge Borislow's less-than-appealing nature in 2012, telling ESPN, "it's not always going to be easy. And it doesn't always need to be a feel-good."

Teammates celebrate with Wambach after she broke Mia Hamm's all-time scoring record. Photo by Jim O'Connor-USA TODAY Sports

On the international stage, Wambach has yet to shake the persistent rumors of her involvement regarding the dismissal of former national team coach Tom Sermanni. There was blowback to her declaration in March that she still aimed to play for the national team in the 2016 Olympics, a decision, most argued, that should be made by the coaching staff and not the player in question.

There are dozens of unanswered questions about the leeway given to her by Ellis and U.S. Soccer, but there's no doubt that the federation has built the program around her for years, both on and off the field. Even Wambach seemed embarrassed by the endless promotion of #chasingmia in 2013 as she closed in on Hamm's scoring record. But the stark truth is that Wambach plays for a federation that has chosen to prioritize ticket sales by playing its stars in meaningless friendlies rather than to use these matches to help improve the depth of their player pool.

Advertisement

A New York Times profile by Jeré Longman in May featured another quote that may have been the most telling yet for Wambach's current worldview. Referring to her own teammates, she said:

""Because people are a little bit scared. They're like: 'I'm going to pump that ball up to Wambach, see what happens. I don't want to play this little 5-yard ball, because if I pass it and it gets picked off and we get scored on, then it's my fault.' The nerves and stress make people play a little more direct, make them play a little 'Let's just pump the ball in there; this is a safer play.' And I just make stuff happen."

Not exactly inspiring stuff the month before the Women's World Cup kicks off. Add in a few million eyeballs and a media eager for narratives, and it's a recipe for disaster. Wambach seems unable to stop it, and to stop herself. And U.S. Soccer? Not exactly the greatest track record when it comes to handling slow motion PR nightmares.

So there's Abby Wambach, the legend, 183 goals, a terror in the air, the leader with the captain's armband. There's Abby Wambach, star of Fox Sports promos, the team's own Achilles heel, the hope of a nation. And now there's Abby Wambach, the unfiltered one with all the excuses, the one player who might be holding up the development of an entire national team.

But there's still time for Wambach to settle things on the field, to justify all the decisions she's made in order to win the biggest tournament of her life. There's two weeks left for her to bring back the Cup. There is still time to stop this fall from grace.