Abby Wambach noncommittal about future with USWNT
Abby Wambach said Monday on the “Dan Patrick Show” that she was unsure of her future with the United States women’s national team.
Wambach, 35, said last month that the 2015 Women’s World Cup would be her last. The U.S. ended up winning the tournament, its record third Women’s World Cup title. Wambach played in all seven World Cup games, scoring one goal in 297 minutes.
Over 249 international caps with USWNT, Wambach has scored 183 goals. She made her debut for the U.S. against Germany on Sept. 9, 2001.
Speaking to Patrick on Monday, Wambach said the post-World Cup rush of events had left her “exhausted” and unable to seriously ponder her future. In March, Wambach announced she would not be playing in the NWSL this year, although she did hope at the time to play in next year’s Olympics.
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“Right now, I’m so tired. Like, I’ve never been this exhausted in my life, just doing stuff, flying around the country, appearances and whatnot,” Wambach said.
“I literally—and I’m not even kidding you—I haven’t even had time to consider what [retiring] would even look like, what that would even mean. I just want to soak this all in.”
After winning the World Cup, Wambach and USWNT have been busy making the rounds, including a ticker tape parade in New York last week and posting for 25 individual covers for SI.
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“Am I the type of player that can come off the bench? I don’t know,” Wambach said. “Obviously, I know that I was able to do it in the World Cup, but when you’re in it, you've just got to go with the flow. Otherwise, if the you-know-what hits the fan inside a World Cup moment, that could be the thing that ruins it for the team. And I wasn’t going to do that.
“I am a competitor, I want to play as much as the next person. But I also have to be a realist, that my body is not getting any younger.”
- Mike Fiammetta
