“I’M A RECOVERING SOCCER PLAYER”
Abby Wambach spent 14 electrifying years leading the U.S. women’s national soccer team to Olympic and World Cup victories. She talks about taking on wage inequality, the importance of her image, and why retiring is like being fired—and being reborn.
In your soccer career, you scored more international goals than any other player, man or woman. But you’ve said that you don’t want to be remembered only as a soccer player. Why is that? I was able to go out on top, as a World Cup champion, and I’m so blessed to have been able to do that. That said, having had 30 years of experience playing a sport, I have kind of stymied my growth as an adult. I’ve been so transfixed and focused on this one goal of attaining championships and [being] my best soccer self. I don’t regret it, because it offered me so many beautiful things. But when that gets stripped away, it’s like: Did I love what I [was doing]? I loved representing my country, but there were
