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Sun, Mar 29th 2009, 11:03
Wambach finds freedom as she gets healthy
Abby Wambach broke two bones in her left leg during an exhibition game just before the Beijing Olympics last July. Confined to her couch and accompanied by a titanium rod that doctors inserted, she yelled at the TV and exhorted her U.S. women’s soccer teammates to a second successive gold medal.
The pain was deep, physically and emotionally; the rehabilitation was long and arduous. But just the other day Wambach, fully healed, said of the injury, “I think it’s gonna extend my career five years.”
The time off proved to be a relief for the Washington Freedom star, who’s arguably the world’s best all-around female soccer player.
“Eight months’ rest for your muscles, your joints, your body,” Wambach said. But more important was resolving what she called “the mental thing.”
“I definitely did a lot of soul-searching,” the 28-year-old forward said. “Why did I break my leg? And why then? I really needed to consider what the game meant to me, and why I play it. I was stressed during that time. And that’s not what brings out the best in me.
“It’s a really big mind game when you’re going into a world event like that,” said Wambach, who scored the gold medal-winning goal in the 2004 Olympics. “I couldn’t show it to anybody. I didn’t want anybody to know. It’s comical how stressed I was. I’m laying on the couch with a broken leg, and I’m like, ‘Why was I even thinking about being so stressed? It’s a game.’ ... If I was stressed like that and I kept winning, I would have stayed stressed.”
Wambach’s recovery has been remarkable on several levels. The Women’s United Soccer Association rookie of the year with the Freedom in 2002, she will now lead her reconstituted team into the inaugural season of Women’s Professional Soccer. The Freedom plays its opener Sunday at the Los Angeles Sol.
“I’ve been extremely proud of her from the moment she broke her leg,” Freedom coach Jim Gabarra said. “The way she handled it, I’ve never seen anybody go through that catastrophic of an injury with such a positive attitude and a strong personality.
“It might have been more of a psychological battle than a physical battle. Your leg can heal. But you miss out on being part of a team and an Olympics, and it really rattles you all the way down to your core. It really tests you. She always thought of it as a test.”
Comments
Erin | on 14/4/09
I love you Abby! U rock my socks off : ) : ) : )
Cali Anne | on 9/4/09
One thing I want to say is that I am going to Our Lady of Mercy Highschool right now. The reason I am going is becasue you went there and because of the soccer. WHen I get on the soccer fields to play I just want to scream because I know that you walked and scored on those fields. You are truly a role model to me and I just want to thank you for everything you hae done. I hope your leg doesnt bother you. PS. I have been to alot of your camps. You inspired me to play soccer and go to Mercy. Again I just want to thank you!!!!!!! :)
Amanda Tresler | on 8/4/09
abby is the best player ever i cried when i seen that game i freaked out and was screaming no way no way
