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Abby Wambach plans to play in 2016 Olympics

Abby Wambach WOTM USA Nigeria (Jane Gershovich)

 

BY COLE KELLOGG

The all-time leading goal scorer in international soccer has revealed she has no plans to quit the national team before next summer.

Abby Wambach, while speaking on a morning show in her hometown of Rochester, New York, said that she hopes to be a part of the U.S. Women’s National Team that competes in the 2016 Olympics.

“I’m planning on playing next summer in Rio, but I gotta let my body recover, because that’s the other thing about playing on artificial surface,” Wambach said. “Seven games is a lot of games, and it wasn’t a long period of time we were playing over. So my body took some hits, and I’m trying to recover.

“If I’m asked to play on the team, at that point I’m going to have to make a decision the next couple of months depending on my fitness level and whatnot. I’m getting older, definitely not getting younger, but the reality is, if I’m asked to play for my country it might be difficult to say no. But I haven’t made any definitive decisions yet.”

Wambach spoke of her plans to get away with family and enjoy some time off, saying: “I’m excited to go and vacation, get away from a little bit of the whirlwind I’ve been on, to rest, relax and to be able to make maybe some of those future decisions.”

The striker scored just one goal at the Women’s World Cup this summer and came off of the bench for the final three matches of the tournament.

If Wambach makes the 18-player roster for the Olympics, she would have a chance to win a third goal medal with the USWNT. She was in the U.S. team when it won the competition in 2004 and 2012, but she missed out in 2008 with a broken leg.

The striker will celebrate her 36th birthday just two months before the competition starts next year.

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Do you think Jill Ellis will choose Wambach for the Olympic squad? Would it make more sense for the striker to go out in a blaze of glory after the World Cup victory?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Abby’s intent to hang on till the Rio Olympics is starting to verge on the selfish. Not to diminish her amazing career acomplishments but whether she starts or comes off the bench, she’ll still be taking a roster spot away from some younger player. Jill Ellis desparately needs to change the culture of these ‘tenured ladies’ on the Women’s NT and move toward what Klinsmann has done for the US Men, i.e., your reputation and storied past means nothing–you’ve got to earn your spot every day. If Abby still wants to contibute then give her an assistant coaching position perhaps. But she needs to hang up the cleats, and Rampone, Boxx, O’Reilly and Rodriguez (at a minimum) should all hit the bricks as well. Morgan, Leroux and Press are more than ready to step in to provide the scoring punch. Thanks for the memories Abby, but youth must be served…

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  2. I might be in the minority but if she wants to come off the bench and help kill off matches or try to steal a goal on a set piece, she probably can still fill a role.

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  3. Time to ride off on the sunset .. Time to let some new blood have a turn. You don’t want to be the player who stuck around too long and took a spot. Like Boxx

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    • If Abby still wants to play for the US then there is only one person who can and should decide whether that is a good idea or not.

      And that is Ellis.

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  4. Wambach needs to retire. She has not played well in recent years and has scored most of her goals against low ranked opponents and rarely scored against top opponents. She can only play in a long-ball system which limits the overall effectiveness of the team. Players like O’Hara or Dunn should be playing more and Horan, McDonald, Huerta should be invited to camp and they can’t when a spots is wasted on a paste-her-prime strike who is only effective for 10 minutes at a time

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  5. Oh boy. It’s time to go, Abby. Her minutes need to go towards developing the younger forwards. I hope she doesn’t make herself available for selection, because I don’t want to have to root for her not to be selected.

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  6. Headline is a little misleading, comments where more like “I’ll play if they need me,” than I plan to play. I would like to see more youth brought into Olympics to prep for next World Cup. We’ve had pretty much the same core 7 or 8 players for the last four major competitions, Olympics and WC. Definitely time for a new keeper to give it a go.

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  7. ““If I’m asked to play on the team, at that point I’m going to have to make a decision the next couple of months depending on my fitness level and whatnot. I’m getting older, definitely not getting younger, but the reality is, if I’m asked to play for my country it might be difficult to say no. But I haven’t made any definitive decisions yet.””

    A big IF, since I don’t think she makes the team.

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  8. She may plan on it, Im sure Landon Donovan did too, but I think Jill Ellis needs to pull her aside and tell her it’s over. She was mostly useless in the WWC, she’s going to be another year older and just a little slower. It’s time to go Abby. What role do you think you’d serve? This is a young person’s game and 36 is not young in International soccer

    Don’t make Jill do what they finally had to do with Christine Lilly at the end.

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    • And get over the turf thing Abby… I am all for equality as well but half of Scandanavia played on the turf because of the climate… It woudl have cost boatloads to put grass in at all the venues… venues that were for the most part half empty or more for games not involving the US or Canada…

      Let it go and alos GO OUT ON TOP…

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      • Actually, it wouldn’t have cost any money as Scots offered to install grass fields for free. In fact, Moncton, the smallest and worst attended stadium had to rip out a grass field to install turf

    • Why is everyone so obsessed with people going out on top? Who cares? I’m sure she plans on going out on top at the Olympics. As we saw in the world cup, she’s not going to start. I don’t really see how it hurts the team.

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  9. Some just don’t know when to quit. Here she is, after a terrific World Cup victory, with the chance to go out on top … and instead decides to continue.

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