Updates
Sat, Mar 7th 2009, 13:20
Team Preview: Wambach, Freedom seek to answer questions
Now that the Washington Freedom have begun training camp, there is one question on everyone’s mind: how is Abby Wambach doing on her surgically repaired left leg?
“She’s been the Abby of old, very competitive but always smiling and enjoying the training,” reported head coach Jim Gabarra as week one wound down. “That’s great to see. I think Abby still has a little ways to go but she has participated in everything.”
Gabarra is banking on Wambach returning to the form that led the first incarnation of the Freedom to the 2003 WUSA championship and then anchored the frontline for the U.S. National Team. But she is not the only high profile player who came to camp in the final stages of rehabilitation from a serious injury. Central defender Cat Whitehill tore her left ACL in training last June and has not played since.
“I couldn’t be happier from what we’ve seen from Abby and Cat coming back from injuries,” Gabarra said. “They have looked really good in training.”
The Freedom have a shorter camp then most since they must travel to California to play the Los Angeles Sol in the WPS Inaugural Match on March 29. Still the coach said he would be shocked if Wambach and Whitehill were not both in the lineup for the season opener.
As for who else will be in the Freedom’s first WPS lineup, much of that will hinge on how quickly the club’s contingent of international players are able to make their way to the nation’s capital. As of Thursday, Australian forward Lisa De Vanna was in Washington visiting with the team but had yet to sign a contract. While signed to contracts, Japanese midfielder Homare Sawa and French defender Sonia Bompastor have yet to enter the country due to visa issues. Canadian Goalkeeper Erin McLeod is likewise in visa limbo and has yet to sign with the club. Seeking to fill its last international slot, the Freedom continue to speak with Norway’s Lene Mykjaland and France’s Louisa Necib about joining the team on loan.
“The process has just taken as long as it can possibly be taking,” Gabarra said.
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