Abby Wambach's four-goal effort against South Korea lifted her past Mia Hamm and into first place on the U.S. women's soccer team's all-time scoring list. Also: The U-20s face a stern test today in Turkey.
BY
Jesse Yomtov
Posted
June 21, 2013
8:56 AM
SHARE THIS STORY
Abby Wambach caught and passed Mia Hamm to become the all-time leading international scorer. She entered the match vs. South Korea trailing Hamm by two goals, but within 19 minutes had already drawn level. Her third goal, in the 29th minute, gave her 159 for her career, surpassing Hamm’s mark. Oh, and she scored a fourth in the first half just for good measure.
The U-20 World Cup gets underway this afternoon and the U.S. takes on Spain, because, of course. The defending U-19 European champs are the tournament favorites and the U.S. faces a tall task in the opener. Our Josh Deaver investigates how Tab Ramos’ team could pull off a shocking upset. Additional point to be made: The Spanish U-20 team only has one guy on Barcelona!
Jason Davis wonders if it should ultimately be Michael Bradley’s decision who plays alongside him in central midfield. “After all, it's Bradley who has the best vantage point of how well things are going on the field, it's Bradley who must have an instantaneous understanding with the man beside him, and it's Bradley who most singularly drives the USMNT,” Davis says. It’s hard to disagree that “as long as it’s done discreetly, it might be best to let him decide.”
The long-rumored friendly with Bosnia-Herzegovina is now official for Aug. 14 in Sarajevo. It’ll be the last match before World Cup qualifying gets back underway on Sept. 6 in Costa Rica. It’s the first-ever meeting between the two teams, though the U.S. did play Yugoslavia twice. Yugoslavia ended up breaking up into like six different teams, including Bosnia-Herzegovina. Eastern Europe, man.
With the Gold Cup coming into focus, Alex Labidou takes a look at five players who stand to benefit the most from July’s tournament. Landon Donovan naturally tops the list as he tries to get back into the picture. Joe Corona and Mix Diskerud are two talented names on the list who haven’t gotten much game action under Klinsmann. Jack McIerney will have a chance to show what he can do on the international stage and hey, remember Brek Shea?
