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Tue, Mar 30th 2010, 09:55
Win at Torero Stadium is a bonus for Wambach
Abby Wambach had a goal waved off by an offside call. She had a sharp header thwarted by a diving save. She had another point-blank header sail over the crossbar. Twice, she extended her foot and just missed flicking a cross into an open net.
Normally, that would infuriate the ultracompetitive Wambach. Drive her nuts.
Not yesterday.
“I’m just happy to be walking off the field,” said Wambach, motioning toward the asphalt path leading from the Torero Stadium, “to be walking up that ramp instead of riding on a gurney.”
The U.S. women’s national soccer team beat Mexico 3-0 yesterday before 3,069 at Torero Stadium, but for the iconic Wambach the biggest victory might have been a cathartic exorcizing of the demons of Torero Stadium.
Two Julys ago here, in the final tune-up before the 2008 Olympics, Wambach collided with Brazilian defender Andreia Rosa and slumped to the field with a mainshaft fracture of the tibia and fibia in her left leg.
Wambach returned to the field a few months later. The old Wambach, the one expected to pass Mia Hamm’s 158 career goals to become the all-time scorer in women’s international soccer, took far longer to resurface.
“For the first time, I finally feel like I’m close to where I was before,” said Wambach, who has 104 goals in 136 international appearances. “Emotionally, it took me a long time to get back as a player. You have to not fear anything. I was kind of a baby, truthfully. I would cringe any time I got hit. I think that’s gone now.”
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