10 Months in the Making, Abby Wambach is Just One Away From Magical 100-Goal Mark as U.S. Women Face Canada in Toronto
U.S. forward Abby Wambach is just one well-placed shot away from joining an exclusive club of players to have scored 100 career international goals. The small group of legendary players includes four Americans, lead by Mia Hamm with her world record 158 goals. Kristine Lilly (129), Michelle Akers (105) and Tiffeny Milbrett (100) also hit the century mark during their careers.
May 25, 2009
CHICAGO (May 25, 2009) – U.S. forward Abby Wambach is just one well-placed shot away from joining an exclusive club of players to have scored 100 career international goals. The small group of legendary players includes four Americans, lead by Mia Hamm with her world record 158 goals. Kristine Lilly (129), Michelle Akers (105) and Tiffeny Milbrett (100) also hit the century mark during their careers.
Wambach will get a chance for her 100th on Monday night, May 25, as she returns to the field against Canada in the USA’s first domestic match of the year. It will be Wambach’s first game for the USA since breaking her leg against Brazil on July 16, 2008, in the final match before the USA left for the Beijing Olympics. The USA-Canada clash will be played at BMO Field in Toronto and broadcast live on Fox Soccer Channel.
Wambach has scored her 99 goals in just 127 career caps, the best goals-to-games ratio in U.S. history. She averages a goal for about every 96 minutes she has played for the USA. At 5-foot-11, Wambach size and strength have been key assets as she has piled up the goals, but her speed and skills have also helped her score for the USA in a myriad of ways.
Wambach, 28, hails from Rochester, N.Y., where she was a high school All-American. She attended the University of Florida, where she scored 96 goals, but her ascension the U.S. National Team featured several setbacks. Wambach finished her college career in 2001 after having a breakout Nordic Cup tournament earlier that summer with the U.S. U-21 Women’s National Team, and was drafted to the Washington Freedom of the WUSA. Over the next two years, despite numerous call-ups to National Teams camps, she failed to make game several rosters, but did show flashes of what was to come, scoring five goals in 2002 including her first-ever hat trick (against Scotland). A Wambach with a new dedication to fitness and professionalism had a spectacular 2003 WUSA season, tying for the league-lead in scoring with 13 goals and seven assists while leading the Freedom to the WUSA title, scoring both goals in the championship game, including a golden-goal winner in overtime.
Her performance in WUSA led to a place on the USA’s 2003 Women’s World Cup Team and she earned a starting spot for the tournament. She scored three goals, including the winning goal against Norway in the quarterfinal match, and was named the U.S. Soccer Female Athlete of the Year. Her international career was off and running.
In 2004, she had one of the greatest scoring years in U.S. history, pounding in 31 goals, the second-highest yearly ever for a U.S. player, and scored four times in the Olympic Games. She led the USA in scoring at the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup, finding the net six times to earn the Silver Shoe as the tournament’s second leading scorer, and scored 20 times on the year, becoming the first player to score 20 or more goals in a calendar year twice in her U.S. National Team career.
Prior to missing the 2008 Olympics, Wambach led the USA in scoring during the last three world championship events, but while her scoring has certainly distinguished her on the international stage, her ability to create goals must not go overlooked. She has 44 career assists, which puts her seventh in U.S. history.
The U.S. team has lost just one match in which Wambach has scored, that coming at the very end of 2004 in a 3-1 setback to Denmark on the Fan Celebration Tour following the USA’ gold medal run in Athens, Greece. The U.S. team is 65-1-2 in games that Wambach tallies. Just four of her goals have come off penalty kicks, she has scored in 45 different stadiums and of her 99 goals, 41 have come with her head, an amazing 41% of her total goals.
Wambach has scored against 26 different countries (the most goals against Mexico with 18), and three goals have come against Canada. Interestingly, she has scored 21 goals in the final 15 minutes, plus stoppage time of matches. She is also lethal on either side of halftime, scoring 43 goals in the last 15 minutes of the first half and the first 15 of the second half.
BREAKDOWN BY COUNTRY
| Mexico | 18 | Sweden | 5 | Costa Rica | 2 | Greece | 1 |
| Ireland | 9 | China PR | 4 | Finland | 2 | Haiti | 1 |
| Norway | 9 | Denmark | 4 | Italy | 2 | Nigeria | 1 |
| Japan | 6 | Canada | 3 | Jamaica | 2 | Panama | 1 |
| Australia | 5 | Chinese Taipei | 3 | Korea DPR | 2 | Trinidad & Tobago | 1 |
| Brazil | 5 | New Zealand | 3 | England | 1 | ||
| Iceland | 5 | Scotland | 3 | France | 1 |
WAMBACH'S STATISTICS BY YEAR:
| Year | GP/GS | MIN | G | A | Pts |
| 2001 | 1/0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2002 | 7/4 | 355 | 5 | 4 | 14 |
| 2003 | 14/9 | 867 | 9 | 0 | 18 |
| 2004 | 33/26 | 2309 | 31 | 13 | 75 |
| 2005 | 8/8 | 659 | 4 | 5 | 13 |
| 2006 | 21/20 | 1848 | 17 | 8 | 42 |
| 2007 | 21/20 | 1717 | 20 | 4 | 44 |
| 2008 | 22/21 | 1770 | 13 | 10 | 36 |
| Total | 125/106 | 9540 | 99 | 44 | 242 |
WAMBACH'S GOAL BREAKDOWN
| Single Goal Games | 44 | Five Goal Games | 1 | Scored in Countries | 8 |
| Two Goal Games | 19 | Scored in U.S. States | 19 | Goals Scored in USA | 61 |
| Hat Tricks | 4 | Goals as a Substitute | 10 | Goals Scored Abroad | 38 |
| Four Goal Games | 0 | Goals as a Starter | 89 |
WAMBACH'S GOAL BY MINUTE:
| First 15 Minutes: | 5 |
| Minute 16-30: | 18 |
| Minute 31-45: | 20 |
| Minute 46-60: | 23 |
| Minute 61-75: | 12 |
| Minute 76-90: | 19 |
| Extra Time: | 2 |
WAMBACH'S GOALS BY MONTH
| Jan. | 1 | May | 7 | Sept. | 18 |
| Feb. | 3 | June | 9 | Oct. | 18 |
| March | 14 | July | 6 | Nov. | 6 |
| April | 0 | Aug. | 7 | Dec. | 2 |
WAMBACH'S TOURNAMENT GOALS
| Women's World Cup | 9 | Algarve Cup | 12 | Peace Queen Cup | 3 |
| Olympics | 4 | CONCACAF Qualifying | 10 | Four Nations | 2 |
ABBY’S ROAD TO 100
| Date | Opponent | Goal # | Score | Venue | Appendage |
| 04/27/02 | Finland | 1 | 3-0 W | San Jose, Calif. | Right Foot |
| 09/08/02 | Scotland | 2, 3, 4 | 8-2 W | Columbus, Ohio | Head, Foot, Head |
| 11/02/02 | Panama | 5 | 9-0 W | Seattle, Wash. | Foot |
| 06/14/03 | Ireland | 6, 7 | 5-0 W | Salt Lake City, Utah | Foot, Head |
| 09/01/03 | Costa Rica | 8 | 5-0 W | Carson, Calif. | Head |
| 09/07/03 | Mexico | 9 | 5-0 W | San Jose, Calif. | Left Foot |
| 09/25/09 | Nigeria | 10 | 5-0 W | Philadelphia, Pa. | Left Foot |
| 09/28/03 | Korea DPR | 11 | 3-0 W | Columbus, Ohio | Penalty |
| 10/01/03 | Norway | 12 | 1-0 W | Foxborough, Mass. | Head |
| 11/02/03 | Mexico | 13, 14 | 3-1 W | Dallas, Texas | Head, Head |
| 02/25/04 | Trinidad & Tobago | 15 | 7-0 W | San Jose, Costa Rica | Head |
| 02/27/04 | Haiti | 16 | 8-0 W | Heredia, Costa Rica | Head |
| 02/29/04 | Mexico | 17 | 2-0 W | San Jose, Costa Rica | Head |
| 03/03/04 | Costa Rica | 18 | 4-0 W | San Jose, Costa Rica | Left Foot |
| 03/05/04 | Mexico | 19 | 3-2 W | Heredia, Costa Rica | Right Foot |
| 03/14/04 | France | 20 | 5-1 W | Ferreiras, Portugal | Head |
| 03/20/04 | Norway | 21, 22, 23 | 4-1 W | Faro, Portugal | Head, Left Foot, Left Foot |
| 04/24/04 | Brazil | 24, 25 | 5-1 W | Birmingham, Ala. | Head, Foot |
| 06/06/04 | Japan | 26 | 1-1 T | Louisville, Ky. | Foot |
| 07/21/04 | Australia | 27 | 3-1 W | Blaine, Minn. | Foot |
| 08/01/04 | China PR | 28 | 3-1 W | East Hartford, Conn. | Head |
| 08/11/04 | Greece | 29 | 3-0 W | Heraklio, Greece | Head |
| 08/14/04 | Brazil | 30 | 2-0 W | Thessaloniki, Greece | Left Foot |
| 08/20/04 | Japan | 31 | 2-1 W | Thessaloniki, Greece | Foot |
| 08/26/04 | Brazil | 32 | 2-1 W OT | Athens, Greece | Head |
| 09/25/04 | Iceland | 33, 34 | 4-3 W | Rochester, N.Y. | Head, Head |
| 09/29/04 | Iceland | 35 | 3-0 W | Pittsburgh, Pa. | Left Foot |
| 10/03/04 | New Zealand | 36 | 5-0 W | Portland, Ore. | Left Foot |
| 10/20/04 | Ireland | 37 | 5- 1 W | Chicago, Ill. | Foot |
| 10/23/04 | Ireland | 38, 39, 40, 41, 42 | 5-0 W | Houston, Texas | Head, Foot, Head, Foot, Foot |
| 11/06/04 | Denmark | 43 | 1-3 L | Philadelphia, Pa. | Head |
| 12/08/04 | Mexico | 44, 45 | 5-0 W | Carson, Calif. | Head, Foot |
| 03/11/05 | Finland | 46 | 3-0 W | Guia, Portugal | Head |
| 03/13/05 | Denmark | 47 | 4-0 W | Villareal de San Antonio, Portugal |
Head |
| 10/23/05 | Mexico | 48, 49 | 3-0 W | Charleston, S.C. | Head, Head |
| 01/18/06 | Norway | 50 | 3-1 W | Guangzhou, China | Foot |
| 03/11/06 | Denmark | 51 | 5-0 W | Quarteira, Portugal | Foot |
| 05/07/06 | Japan | 52, 53, 54 | 3-1 W | Kumamoto, Japan | Foot, Left Foot, Head |
| 07/15/06 | Sweden | 55 | 3-2 W | Blaine, Minn. | Foot |
| 07/23/06 | Ireland | 56 | 5-0 W | San Diego, Calif. | Head |
| 07/30/06 | Canada | 57 | 2-0 W | Cary, N.C. | Penalty Kick |
| 09/13/06 | Mexico | 58, 59 | 3-1 W | Rochester, N.Y. | Penalty Kick, Left Foot |
| 10/01/06 | Chinese Taipei | 60, 61, 62 | 10-0 W | Carson, Calif. | Foot, Foot, Foot |
| 10/08/06 | Iceland | 63, 64 | 2-1 W | Richmond, Va. | Foot, Foot |
| 11/22/06 | Mexico | 65, 66 | 2-0 W | Carson, Calif. | Foot, Head |
| 03/12/06 | Sweden | 67, 68 | 3-2 W | Villareal de San Antonio, Portugal |
Right Knee, Head |
| 04/14/07 | Mexico | 69 | 5-0 W | Foxborough, Mass. | Right foot |
| 05/12/07 | Canada | 70, 71 | 6-2 W | Frisco, Texas | Left foot, head |
| 06/16/07 | China PR | 72, 73 | 2-0 W | Cleveland, Ohio | Head, Head |
| 06/23/07 | Brazil | 74 | 2-0 W | East Rutherford, N.J. | Head |
| 07/28/07 | Japan | 75 | 4-1 W | San Jose, Calif. | Right foot |
| 08/12/07 | New Zealand | 76, 77 | 6-1 W | Chicago, Ill. | Head, Right leg |
| 09/11/07 | Korea DPR | 78 | 2-2 T | Chengdu, China | Right foot |
| 09/14/07 | Sweden | 79, 80 | 2-0 W | Chengdu, China | Penalty-Right foot, left foot |
| 09/22/07 | England | 81 | 3-0 W | Tianjin, China | Head |
| 09/30/07 | Norway | 82, 83 | 4-1 W | Shanghai, China | Right leg, right foot |
| 10/13/07 | Mexico | 84, 85 | 5-1 W | St. Louis, Mo. | Head, right foot |
| 10/17/07 | Mexico | 86 | 4-0 W | Portland, Ore. | Right foot |
| 03/05/08 | China PR | 87 | 4-0 W | Albufeira, Portugal | Left foot |
| 03/10/08 | Norway | 88 | 4-0 W | Alvor, Portugal | Chest |
| 03/12/08 | Denmark | 89 | 2-1 W | Alvor, Portugal | Right foot |
| 04/04/08 | Jamaica | 90, 91 | 6-0 W | Ciudad Juarez, Mexico | Right foot, right foot |
| 04/06/08 | Mexico | 92 | 3-1 W | Ciudad Juarez, Mexico | Left foot |
| 04/27/08 | Australia | 93 | 3-2 W | Cary, N.C. | Head |
| 05/03/08 | Australia | 94, 95 | 5-4 W | Birmingham, Ala. | Right foot, head |
| 06/15/08 | Australia | 96 | 2-1 W | Suwon, South Korea | Head |
| 06/19/08 | Italy | 97, 98 | 2-0 W | Suwon, South Korea | Left foot, head |
| 07/02/08 | Norway | 99 | 4-0 W | Fredrikstad, Norway | Left foot |
Goal scored with head (41) = 41 percent
Goal scored with feet (54) = 55 percent
Goals scored with chest (1) = 1 percent
Goals Scored with knee or leg (3) = 3 percent
U.S. Record when Wambach Scores: 65-1-2
