Wambach hovers over USA's roster ahead of World Cup prep matches
When coach Jill Ellis announced the 25-player United States women's national team roster on Friday for the four-game stretch of World Cup prep games that will take place in St. Louis, California and New Jersey, Abby Wambach's name was listed with an asterisk. She's unattached.
That follows a big decision by the 34-year-old striker to quit her National Women's Soccer League team in order to concentrate on the World Cup, which starts June 6 in Canada and will see Wambach turn 35 before a new champ is crowned in Vancouver, B.C. on July 5.
Wambach deciding to not play this season for her women's professional soccer league team has rattled a few cages in the American soccer world. Her coach and manager at the Western New York Flash, Aaran Lines, is peeved that Wambach has been given a pass by U.S. Soccer officials, who are not insisting that Wambach uphold the party line of having national team players populate the rosters of these fledgling NWSL teams.
"What I don't really understand," Lines told espnW, "is how can a player make that decision to not play at club level, and still be able to play for her country? If you don't play for club in the men's game, you don't get the opportunity to play for country, do you? We need to head in that direction of the men's game."
Call this the first real trial balloon for the 2015 Women's World Cup in Canada June 6 through July 5. Wambach's decision to preserve her body for soccer's greatest show has cracked open the egg of interesting dynamics that surround the national team veterans, who are the rewarded stars of the U.S. team, some say at the expense of U.S. Soccer's ability to develop younger players.
Whether or not that's true remains to be seen. The underlying question for those critical of the U.S. system of retaining and favoring the veterans is: Are there really more high-level players who could contribute to the USWNT during international competition? Wambach's continued presence as a key player on the U.S. team indicates U.S. Soccer's answer, which is that the drop off in skill is significant past the first 23 or 25 players that now make it to training camps and tournament rosters.
At 34, with a birthday coming before the World Cup tournament, Wambach already occupies a special place in U.S. soccer history. The powerful striker also sits in a unique place this year, given her ability to create goals off set pieces and the tell-tale signs that for everything great she brings to the U.S. side, not to mention the intangibles of her spirit and leadership, she is, well, getting old. The evidence is now her decision to not play professionally, despite the premium put on that by U.S. Soccer, who pays for Wambach and other national team players' salaries.
"Abby made a personal decision to do what she feels is best for her to be mentally and physically prepared for the World Cup," U.S. coach Ellis said in a statement. "The NWSL provides a beneficial environment for our players, but her situation is unique and I understand and respect her thought process. The support and cooperation by the NWSL owners and coaches has helped us ensure we are preparing for the World Cup in the best way possible."
During the Algarve Cup in Portugal earlier this month, Wambach was absolutely straightforward and accepting that she would accept any role on the USWNT. If coach Jill Ellis wanted to start her, fine. If she was going to come in as a late sub, fine. Whatever it takes to win is Wambach's attitude. She is not demanding to start or play every minute.
That's good, since the depth and lineups Ellis tried, especially with Alex Morgan and Christen Press starting up front for the U.S. gives the team a lot more speed and flexibility in controlling the ball and creating shots.
But with the news that Wambach is forgoing the NWSL season, that her "unique" situation allows U.S. Soccer to back her decision, it proves the old World Cup adage that something funny always happens on the road to the World Cup. By that I mean during these high-interest level tournaments, there emerges two divergent narratives.
One comes from the legions of die-hard and knowledgeable soccer fans in the U.S., who really dissect the intricacies of the U.S. soccer program and question decisions that they feel underscore ways in which the U.S. team or program falls short or could do better.
This narrative seems to fly in the face of the one desired by the legions of more general sports fans who come to World Cup tournaments with a very generous sense of excitement and pride. Their expectations are different. They want to go on a nice ride, with players they know, with swelling music and familiar themes and biographies. A World Cup without Wambach on the field may not, in the end, be a complete detriment to the U.S. side's ability to win. However, a World Cup without Wambach would certainly feel and look in the broader case as if something very important, and likeable, and compelling, was missing.
The insiders who really understand soccer get that there is a very indelicate balance that players must tread between money, club team pressures and the demands of the U.S. or international federations. Meanwhile, with one of sports most coveted titles on the line -- a World Cup championship -- there is a tremendous surge of interest from a wider pool of spectators whose bottom-line desire is solely to see the U.S. win.
That is especially true in 2015 for the U.S. women's national team, which has not won the World Cup since the raucous victory at the packed Rose Bowl in 1999. "At this stage of my career, I know what I need to prepare mentally and physically for this summer. My sole focus is to help bring a World Cup back to the U.S.," Wambach said this week after announcing her resignation from the Flash.
To some, that sounded like a pass being given to an veteran who is taking advantage of her soccer stardom for one more shot at glory. To a vast majority of fans, Wambach's statement is a personal and patriotic declaration that come June, it's for all the marbles.
Either way, the development is good for dramatic tension and build-up for the World Cup.
25-Player Roster:
Goalkeepers: Ashlyn Harris (Washington Spirit), Alyssa Naeher (Boston Breakers) and Hope Solo (Seattle Reign FC).
Defenders: Lori Chalupny (Chicago Red Stars), Crystal Dunn (Washington Spirit), Whitney Engen (Western NY Flash), Julie Johnston (Chicago Red Stars), Meghan Klingenberg (Houston Dash), Ali Krieger (Washington Spirit), Kelley O'Hara (Sky Blue FC), Christie Rampone (Sky Blue FC), Becky Sauerbrunn (FC Kansas City) and Rachel Van Hollebeke (Portland Thorns FC).
Midfielders: Shannon Boxx (Chicago Red Stars), Morgan Brian (Houston Dash), Tobin Heath (Portland Thorns FC), Lauren Holiday (FC Kansas City), Carli Lloyd (Houston Dash), Heather O'Reilly (FC Kansas City) and Megan Rapinoe (Seattle Reign FC).
Forwards: Sydney Leroux (Seattle Reign FC), Alex Morgan (Portland Thorns FC), Christen Press (Chicago Red Stars), Amy Rodriguez (FC Kansas City) and Abby Wambach (Unattached).
