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Abby Wambach, U.S. World Cup Team’s Soul, Soars Despite a Lesser Role

Abby Wambach, U.S. World Cup Team’s Soul, Soars Despite a Lesser Role

During this women’s World Cup, Abby Wambach, the soul of the United States team, called herself clairvoyant. A seer. A fortune teller.

But did she foresee the United States team beating Japan, 5-2, to win its first World Cup since 1999, in a match that was 4-0 within the first 16 minutes? No way.

And did she know she would spend most of this World Cup on the bench, called upon as a substitute only in the late stages of some games? Definitely not.

We will give her a break for not envisioning everything. And Wambach probably doesn’t care that she couldn’t predict it all, either. At 35, after so many years of working and waiting, all she wanted to do was win this World Cup.

Now, after more than a decade on the national team, she finally has — but not because of her soccer savvy or her brilliant headers, which made the United States team so dangerous in years past. This time, the victory came on the backs of her teammates.

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