Abby Wambach
I'm going to do anything I can do - whether that's being part of FIFA or creating some sort of movement that can actually impart real equality across all lines - in every country, every city, every sector all over the world, that's what I'm going to do.Collection: Equality
It's always really challenging trying to go from player to player/coach. You have a kind of friendship basis of relationship with all of your teammates, and now you go to this power position where you have to make decisions that might hurt people's feelings.Collection: Friendship
Sometimes there has to be a goat on some level, and I'm totally fine with that being me.
My eldest sister Beth is a doctor who studied at Harvard and Columbia and played basketball for Harvard. She set the athletic and academic standard for the rest of us to follow.
You can't cry when things get a little bit hard. You've just got to push through and know that there's a reason and end to the means.
I have never once dribbled the whole field and scored a goal by myself.
I always think that struggle can bring out the best in people - or the worst.
We need to have women in more powerful positions that are making decisions, so when that 10-year-old girl is looking up and wondering, 'What can I do and what do I want to be when I get older?' She has the opportunity to do and be whatever she wants.
If I can help a kid feel more comfortable in their skin because they're struggling with maybe the things I struggled with in high school, that's great.
I'm honestly not the kind of person who wants to step up to a podium, test the microphone and be like, 'Hey, I'm homosexual and this is who I am, hear me roar.' That's not who I am.
When I was in college, I learned to really take care of my body and figured out what works best for me and what doesn't work for me when it comes to my nutrition. That helped so much on the field because soccer is such a fitness-oriented game.
I really enjoy helping people out, and I enjoy time spent with kids.
This might sound masochistic or narcissistic, I don't know, but when I'm not playing the game, the validations I feel about life are always through the hardships. I relate more to sadness, in a lot of ways, when I'm not playing.
It's a heavy burden to look up at the mountain and want to start the climb.
The minute you step off that podium is the minute you start preparing for the next world championship. That's kind of how I work. You celebrate for a brief moment, then you move on.
Sometimes when you fail, it allows you the opportunity to grow more motivation and get more intense about your training.
My teammates have put me in all different kinds of positions to score goals, and I can't say it enough, and I really through and through believe it in my heart that I'm only as good as my teammates allow me to be.
The most important thing is that sometimes you have to go through hard times to get to the good stuff.
I know that I was put on this planet to be an athlete.
Your heart can only take you so far - sometimes the physical body tells you otherwise.
Any little touch a defender can make on me when I'm in the air literally moves me. On the ground, I can use my muscle, but in the air, it's harder to fight that off.
I have a unique ability to predict the flight of the ball, and my teammates have a unique ability to find me.
Any good attacker will always beat a defender who's face-marking you.
Sometimes if you have a coach or team-mates for too long, you get caught in certain routines. I think it's good to shake up things a little bit.
Whenever you get to win, you feel the satisfaction of all of your hard work, all the sacrifices, all the blood, sweat and tears. It feels right and makes you realise that you are really doing the right thing.
I'm not sure if I'm going to get into coaching. I'm sure I'll stay in soccer somehow.
People don't understand that the feel of the surface is so important for a footballer. The ball travels on the surface; our feet move on the surface - all of that goes into how the game is actually played.
Winning, you can overlook so many things.
When you can score three goals without the most prolific scorer in the world, you know you have a lot of depth, and it gives you confidence.
I would say Hope Solo is competitive.
My go-to karaoke? 'Alone' by Celine Dion.
The most important thing is to get better at your craft, and concussions and head impacts are a setback.
I want to do what I can to give the next generation of athletes added advantages in the game.
I want to reduce my risks as much as possible and hopefully be able to go to the World Cup fit, ready and healthy.
I think, as you grow older, you have figure out the best way to utilize not only your body but your skill.
For any athlete growing up, the Olympics is the one thing you watch with your family, and it's the one thing you dream about. Seeing your country's flag go up as you get a gold medal is the best thing you can achieve.
I'm pretty goofy. I laugh at my own jokes.
I'm a pretty decent cook. I like to grill. I have a smoker that I love. I love me some steak. And I'll make a huge salad with a ton of vegetables.
You know me, I'm not that kind of person that cares to unveil all of my personal things to the world because frankly, in terms of my soccer, it doesn't matter.
I'm not in the business of politics.
I know that I'll end up being a role model for many, many people out there for all kinds of reasons.
I can't speak for other people, but for me, I feel like gone are the days that you need to come out of a closet. I never felt like I was in a closet. I never did. I always felt comfortable with who I am and the decisions I made.
Having different people come together and be on a team and win a world championship is literally, I think, the definition of being American.
A few goals is the way soccer is meant to be played.
My parents, they're the kind of people that didn't want me to get a big head, so they just kept challenging me and challenging me.
As soon as I started to realize that I could make a living playing professional soccer, I went to that place where I could torture myself because I knew it would make me better for the championship game.
I've always had a dream of owning a restaurant.
I've always been motivated more by negative comments than by positive ones. I know what I do well. Tell me what I don't do well.
People don't think an athlete nowadays can have a team-first mentality and I do.
As an athlete, you are literally programmed to endure a specific amount of pain.