Thank you, Abby!

On the 72nd minute of a dismal 1-0 defeat against China, the number 20 flashed up on the electronic board. It would herald the end of an era as 32,950 spectators took to their feet to pay homage to an incredible woman’s incredible career. In Abby Wambach’s 255 games for the United States Women’s National Team she has accumulated a staggering 184 goals and 73 assists making her the world record holder for most international goals in both the men’s and women’s game. Over the course of her 17 year career, she has achieved everything there is to achieve. She is a philanthropist and an activist for gender equality in football. If you are unfamiliar with women’s football, sit back and let me tell you the story of a footballing icon.

Mary Abigail Wambach was born on June 2nd 1980 and grew up in a suburb of Rochester, New York. She is the youngest of seven siblings (two sisters and four brothers). Abby was a naturally sporty girl and was not happy to be babied by her older siblings and neither were they prepared to. She often attributes her competitive nature to this upbringing. She recalls in an interview with Yahoo Sports.

"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."

Her competitive nature and her talent for football was evident from a very young age. She played in her first youth soccer league match at five years old, and after scoring 27 goals in only 3 games, she was transferred from the girls team to the boys team. At high school Abby excelled at all sports, competed in the school basketball and soccer teams. She would often stay after training to work on particular skills and techniques, such as her now trademark diving header. Basketball's loss was football's gain as Abby was called into the All-America high school team, and from that point on was destined to an illustrious footballing career.

After being voted High School Player of the Year, Wambach would go on to a three-year captaincy at Rochester Spirit winning the club player of the year in 1995 and 1997. She then received an early taste of life in the national team when she was invited to the Olympic Development Program at the age of 16. Following high school, she was offered multiple university scholorships and eventually elected to accepted a scholarship with the University of Florida. During her college career, she would break multiple college records with a record of 96 goals and 50 assists. She followed on to have a successful professional club career with Washington Freedom and Western New York Flash, but it was her international career that would see her excel on the global stage.

Wambach earned her first cap for the United States on September 9th 2001 when she made a substitute appearance in a 4-1 win against Germany. It would take her until April the following year to bag her first goal for the U.S. coming on as sub in a friendly against Finland, but it would be the first of many. In August 2003, having only made 6 international appearance and only 3 starts, she was named in the US squad for the FIFA Women's World Cup 2003. She scored 3 goals in the tournament before facing a disappointing 3-0 exit at the hands of Germany. Her next major outing with the national squad would come in the Olympic Games of 2004 in Athens. She played a major part in helping the Americans on their way to the gold medal with several assists and 4 goals; including a crucial header in the 112th minute of the final to secure the win. Her heading ability would later become her trademark, and in 2011 the goal was voted by ESPN as one of the 5 biggest goals in US Women's National Team history. Wambach’s four goals set a new US national team Olympic record. The Olympic win was a pivotal moment for US football as several of the veteran players would take up retirement including legend Mia Hamm. The old guard could be rest assured that they left the team in capable hands as Wambach would seize the opportunity to fully establish herself in the national team.

For the following 5 years Abby became a regular fixture in the squad, and had become their natural leader going into world cup 2007. The tournament would be the scene of a moment that would define the commitment, determination and strength of Wambach. In the opening match against North Korea, with the US 1-0 up thanks to her strike, she suffered a collision with a defender that left her with blood streaming out of a head wound. While receiving treatment, the U.S. conceded 2 goals with in 10 minutes to go 2-1 down. After receiving 5 stitches to the back of her head she would bravely return to the field to help her side come back and draw the game 2-2. Despite bagging herself 6 goals in the tournament it was heartbreak again for Abby as the US fell at the final hurdle losing 4-0 to Brazil.

The US went on to win gold again in Beijing for the 2008 Olympic games, but this time without Abbe]y as she suffered a broken leg during a friendly leading up to the games. An injury of this nature may have ended her career, but that kind of defeatist attitude was not in her DNA as she made clear in the press conference.

"There's no question of whether or not I’ll come back from this, it's more when I'll come back. Will it take a lot of hard work and dedication, pain and suffering? Probably. But do I think about the type of role model that I can be to someone who is going through the same thing? Absolutely. [...] What I want the younger generation to feel and see from this, first and foremost, is that I'm coming back from this."

and come back she certainly did bagging her 100th international goal in a friendly against Canada later that year.

Wambach would fall short of that elusive World Cup win again in 2011 as the US lost in the final; this time to Japan, but during the London 2012 Olympic games the US would win their third consecutive Olympic gold medals with Wombach breaking her previous record scoring 5 on their way to the win. She went on to receive the prestigious FIFA World player of the year award 2013 in recognition of her performances.

With the 2015 World Cup looming, and Wambach starting to feel the toll of a long career, she announced the tournament would be her last. She would play a smaller part in this World Cup than her previous; starting just 3 of 6 matches and scoring just 1 goal in the win over Nigeria. The US would get their revenge on Japan, and beat them convincingly in the final 5-2, and Wombach finally had her hands on the world cup trophy. She provided what for many was the iconic image of that tournament embracing her wife Sarah Huffman in the stands just a week after gay marriage was legalized across the nation.

Watching Abby Wambach kiss her wife after winning the World Cup on repeat. Look how far we've come. #LoveWins #USWNT https://t.co/UHtqpXKNnj

— Alex Goldschmidt (@alexandergold) July 6, 2015

Outside of football, Abby has done philanthropic work with multiple charities, and has been outspoken about the gender inequalities that she has seen so rife in the game. Speaking at the World Player of the Year event Wambach said. 

“I started to reflect on my career and I started to get pissed, I’m not, like, male-hating. I believe we need them too. But the reality is that people are brought up thinking that women are inferior.”

She also appeared nude in The Body Issue of ESPN magazine commenting on the experience,

"Bodies come in all different shapes. Bodies come in all different sizes. My body is very different than most other females. [...] I want to show people that no matter who you are, no matter what shape you are, that's still beautiful."
Since retiring has pledged to continue her fight for equality in the game she loves and has expressed an interest in starting a family.

Abby Wambach was a natural leader who always commanded the respect and attention of her teammates. She would routinely drench her hair prior to giving her team talk so that in the passions of her oratory it would spray about on to her colleagues, but in one game on the US victory tour she changed her routine. She stood back in silence and waited...When two of her teammates stepped forward to give the team talk, she was vindicated; It was time she could move on. So thank you Abby. You have been an incredible athlete, a total professional and remain a fantastic role model for young girls and boys. For everything you have given to the game, and despite your plea, we won't forget you.