Abby Wambach is set to play her final game for the U.S. Women’s National Team on Wednesday night, but the international game’s all-time leading scorer says she’d like to see a major shakeup within U.S. Soccer on her way out.
Speaking on the Bill Simmons Podcast, Wambach said that the one change she’d make within U.S. Soccer would be the firing of U.S. Men’s National Team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann. In particular, Wambach criticized Klinsmann’s reliance on foreign-born talent in recent years rather than the consistent growth of a domestic youth system.
“Oh man … I would definitely fire Jurgen,” Wambach said. “Sorry Sunil (Gulati), sorry U.S. Soccer, but I don’t think that Jürgen and the litmus test on him has worked.”
“First of all, (Klinsmann) hasn’t really focused, I feel like, enough attention on the youth programs. He says he has, I don’t think that he has. Also the way that he has changed and brought in a bunch of these foreign guys is just not something that I believe in wholeheartedly.