nationalcaps manageryears birth_date alt years youthyears caps goals image_size nationalyears image name caption fullname birth_place nationalteam height nationalgoals youthclubs clubs position managerclubs article_title
251 2011 2 june 1980 abby jersey . wambach in the united states national team training 1994 2013 -- -- 98 1995 -- 97 1998 -- 2001 1994 -- 98 1995 -- 97 1998 -- 2001 37 39 11 29 23 21 9 17 240 2001 -- wambach-cropped . jpg abby wambach wambach team in september 2011 warming up with the u.s. women 's national mary abigail wambach rochester , new york , united states united states 5 ft 11 in m on 184 our of florida lady of mercy high school rochester spirit university our of florida western new york flash lady of mercy high school rochester spirit university forward magicjack -lrb- player-coach -rrb- abby wambach

abby wambach

mary abigail `` abby '' wambach -lrb- born june 2 , 1980 -rrb- is an american soccer player , coach , two-time olympic gold medalist , and the 2012 fifa world player of the year .
wambach has played for the united states women 's national soccer team since 2001 .
she played college soccer for the florida gators women 's soccer team while attending the university of florida , helped the gators win their first ncaa division i women 's soccer championship , and was recognized as a three-time all-american .
wambach has played at the professional level for washington freedom , magicjack , and the western new york flash .
her playing rights are currently held by seattle reign fc though she did not play professionally in 2015 , in order to prepare for the 2015 fifa women 's world cup .
a six-time winner of the u.s. soccer athlete of the year award , wambach has been a regular on the u.s. women 's national soccer team since 2003 .
as a forward , she currently stands as the highest all-time goal scorer for the national team and holds the world record for international goals for both female and male soccer players with 184 goals .
wambach has competed in four fifa women 's world cup tournaments : 2003 in the united states , 2007 in china , 2011 in germany , and 2015 in canada , being champion of the last edition ; and two olympics tournaments : 2004 in athens and 2012 in london , winning the gold medal on both .
all together , she has played in 29 matches and scored 22 goals at these five international tournaments .
-- > wambach is known for scoring goals with diving headers , a technique she began honing as a youth in her hometown of rochester , new york .
one of her most notable header goals occurred in the 122nd minute of the 2011 fifa women 's world cup quarterfinal match against brazil .
wambach scored the equalizer in stoppage time helping the americans to eventually progress to the championship final against japan after defeating brazil in penalty kicks .
her last-minute goal set a new record for latest goal ever scored in a match and was awarded espn 's 2011 espy award for best play of the year .
following her performance at the 2011 world cup , she was awarded the tournament 's bronze boot and silver ball .
when the associated press named her athlete of the year , she became the first individual soccer player ever to receive the award .
july 20 was named `` abby wambach day '' in rochester and she was given a key to the city .
in 2012 , wambach was awarded the 2012 fifa world player of the year , becoming the first american woman to win the award in ten years .
in may 2015 she was included in time magazine 's time 100 list as one of the 100 most influential people in the world .
