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Mary Abigail "Abby" Wambach (born June 2, 1980) is an American soccer player, coach, double Olympic gold medalist, FIFA Women's World Cup champion, and the 2012 FIFA World Player of the Year. A six-time winner of the U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year award, Wambach has been a regular on the U.S. women's national soccer team since 2003 earning her first cap in 2001. As a forward, she currently stands as the highest all-time goal scorer for the national team and holds the world record for international goals for both female and male soccer players with 184 goals. Wambach played college soccer for the Florida Gators women's soccer team while attending the University of Florida, helped the Gators win their first NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship, and was recognized as a three-time All-American. She played at the professional level for Washington Freedom, magicJack, and the Western New York Flash. Wambach has competed in four FIFA Women's World Cup tournaments: 2003 in the United States, 2007 in China, 2011 in Germany, and 2015 in Canada, being champion of the last edition; and two Olympics tournaments: 2004 in Athens and 2012 in London, winning the gold medal on both. All together, she has played in 29 matches and scored 22 goals at these five international tournaments.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=FIFA Player Statistics: Abby Wambach )〕 Known for scoring goals with diving headers, a technique she began honing as a youth in her hometown of Rochester, New York, one of her most notable header goals occurred in the 122nd minute of the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup quarterfinal match against Brazil. Wambach scored the equalizer in stoppage time helping the Americans to eventually progress to the championship final against Japan after defeating Brazil in penalty kicks. Her last-minute goal set a new record for latest goal ever scored in a match and was awarded ESPN's 2011 ESPY Award for Best Play of the Year. Following her performance at the 2011 World Cup, she was awarded the tournament's Bronze Boot and Silver Ball. When the Associated Press named her Athlete of the Year, she became the first individual soccer player ever to receive the award. July 20 was named "Abby Wambach Day" in Rochester and she was given a key to the city. In 2012, Wambach was awarded the 2012 FIFA World Player of the Year, becoming the first American woman to win the award in ten years. In May 2015, she was included in Time Magazine's Time 100 list as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Wambach announced her retirement on October 27, 2015. Her last game will be played on December 16 in New Orleans when the United States plays its last match of its 10-game Victory Tour following their win at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup. ==Early life== Born in Rochester, New York, Wambach was raised in the Rochester suburb of Pittsford. She is the youngest of seven siblings (with two sisters and four brothers) born to Pete and Judy Wambach.〔GatorZone.com, Soccer History, 2001 Roster, (Abby Wambach ). Retrieved May 3, 2011.〕 She began playing soccer at the age of four after her sister decided she wanted to try the sport. Their mother checked out a book from the library explaining how to play the game, and from then on soccer became part of their family tradition. "I think I was bred to do what I do now", Wambach said in an interview. "Growing up as the youngest of seven was like being in a team environment, you learn all kinds of things ... I learned how to compete, my brothers and sisters always played with me on the same level and they never let me win until I was better than them and deserved it. Being in such a big family makes you humble. You might have a certain skill or talent but there is always someone who is better at something than you."〔 Wambach recalls being toughened up by her elder brothers firing hockey pucks at her for target practice. While playing in her first youth soccer league at age five, she was transferred from the girls' team to the boys' after scoring 27 goals in only three games. As a pre-teen, she began eluding defenders by heading the ball over them and running around them. Wambach attended Our Lady of Mercy High School in Rochester from 1994 to 1998, where she lettered in soccer and basketball.〔 During her high school career, she scored 142 goals, including 34 in 1997 alone. Mercy's soccer coach, Kathy Boughton, recalled that Wambach would stay after practice to practice diving headers – a skill that would later become her signature as an international player. Following her senior season, Wambach was named to ''Parade'' Magazine's High School All-America Team. She was also voted national high school player of the year by Umbro and the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA).〔〔Michael O'Shea, "(Meet Parade's All-America High School Girls' Soccer Team )", ''Parade'', p. 12 (February 22, 1998). Retrieved July 17, 2011.〕 In 1997, she was named NSCAA Regional Player of the Year, NSCAA State of New York Player of the Year, Gatorade Circle of Champions New York Player of the Year, and cited by ''USA Today'' as one of the nation's top 10 recruits.〔 Wambach was a three-year captain for the Rochester Spirit club team and named All-Greater Rochester Player of the Year in 1995 and 1997.〔 She was a member of the Olympic Development Program (ODP) U-16 National Team in 1996, the 1997 National U-20 Player Pool, and trained and played with the U.S. women's national soccer team while competing in the 1997 U.S. Soccer Festival in Blaine, Minnesota. In 1997, she traveled to Beijing, China, as a member of the first American youth soccer team to ever compete there.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Abby Wambach」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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