U.S. soccer star Wambach visits Maine Olympics get full attention

HAMPDEN – With several veteran United States women’s soccer team players nearing retirement, Abby Wambach is one of the prominent youngsters representing the future of the U.S. team.

But the 23-year-old striker and leading goal scorer for the U.S. team in 2003 with nine in just 14 games doesn’t think along those lines.

“Right now, we’re really excited that we have a chance to redeem ourselves from the World Cup. We’re really focusing on the Olympics [in Athens next summer],” said Wambach, referring to their disappointing third place finish in the World Cup earlier this fall.

“We know the veterans are going to be intact for the Olympics. When they actually say their good-byes is when we’ll start worrying about what’s next. That’s the type of attitude every team needs to have before they move on,” said Wambach who signed autographs at the Maine Sports Complex Tuesday evening.

The Pittsford, N.Y., native and youngest of seven children was the top goal scorer for the U.S. team in her first World Cup with three including the game-winner in the 1-0 quarterfinal win over Norway in Foxboro, Mass.

“It was everything I expected and more. But the one thing I wanted we didn’t get [championship]. That was hard to get over. Sitting next to a big case of heartbreak, it took me a little bit to understand the true nature of how wonderful an experience and how fortunate I was. Something like that is priceless,” said Wambach.

Individually, Wambach said the World Cup was a “break-out” performance for her.

“April [coach April Henrichs] gave me a chance I felt I deserved and I took advantage of it,” said Wambach, who is the University of Florida’s all-time leading scorer and led the Gators to the NCAA title in 1999.

“My teammates and the people close to me who are educated about soccer know I played well. It’s not how many times you score or how many times you’re in the newspaper. It’s about what your teammates think of you and how you personally feel you played,” Wambach added.

The World Cup capped a memorable season for Wambach, who scored both goals to give Washington a 2-1 overtime win over Atlanta in the WUSA’s Founder’s Cup title game. She was chosen the MVP. The 5-foot-10, 160-pound Wambach had 13 goals and seven assists during the regular season to share the scoring title with teammate and all-time leading U.S. scorer Mia Hamm.

“My career started to peak once I got out of college and got to play with Mia,” said Wambach, who attended Hamm’s wedding to Boston Red Sox shortstop Nomar Garciaparra over the weekend. “A lot of people don’t realize how much she does off the field and off the ball in terms of being there for her teammates. She does what she needs to do to make sure we win.”

Wambach, the 2002 Rookie of the Year in the WUSA, said the league has been vital in the development of women’s soccer and hopes the league’s decision to suspend operations is temporary.

“It is a big-time blow to women’s sports. We need to make sure we keep fighting and keep working to get this back in form. Players like myself wouldn’t have been in the World Cup if we hadn’t played in the WUSA. It’s arguably the best league in the world and when you put yourself in an environment where you play at the highest level week in and week out, you’re bound to do great things and get better.”

She also said “Germany won the World Cup because of the WUSA” as several of the German stars played in the league including Boston Breakers star Maren Meinert.

She acknowledged that the gap between the U.S. and the rest of the world has closed but that creates an intriguing challenge for the U.S.

“We’re a team that believes we should win. We have the best 20 players in the world on one roster and we accept nothing but perfection,” said Wambach. “Our motto is you want to be able to say you left the game better than you found it. If other teams are coming up, it just means we need to get better and stronger.”