Wambach Awarded 2012 FIFA Women's World Player of the Year

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(Zurich, Switzerland) January 7, 2012-Abby Wambach was awarded one of the greatest distinctions in women's soccer when she was chosen as the 2012 FIFA Women's World Player of the Year. It was an honor bestowed upon the veteran forward at the annual Ballon d'Or gala held in Zurich by the world governing body of soccer.

Nominated with Wambach was fellow forward Alex Morgan who came in third in the voting behind Marta of Brazil. It was the first time that Wambach at 32 years of age has won the esteemed award and only the third time it has been allotted to an American. Mia Hamm was the recipient in 2001 and 2002.

Pia Sundhage won World Coach of the Year, an honor fitting for someone that finished her tenure as the coach of the U.S. Women's National team with a gold medal performance this past summer in London. In typical Pia fashion she accepted her award by serenading the crowd with a song. Sundhage later spoke about her award: 

"It gives me a lot of confidence and you remember the fact we've been doing something good together. I get more sure about the way I'm coaching and it's a little bit about tactics but also about leadership. Of course I also had really good people to work with and some really good players."

For Wambach this award comes at a time when she is on the brink of surpassing the all time international scoring record that Hamm currently holds with 158 goals. Needing only 7 more goals before she passes Hamm, Wambach had one of her best years racking up 27 goals in 2012, 5 of which came at the Olympics Games. 

“I’m very, very surprised,” Wambach said after the gala. “Individual honors only happen if you have great teams and great people who have given you the chance to be here. Not only do I think Marta and Alex could have won, but many other players could have been here as well. Thanks to FIFA, thanks to U.S. Soccer and thanks to all the fans and my family for putting me in this position. I don’t think of myself as the best player in the world, just a player who plays on the best team in the world.”

Wambach has been the face of women’s soccer for the past several years since Hamm’s retirement. She has also been an emotional leader for a national team that redeemed themselves after losing in the World Cup final against Japan in 2011. Pushing herself through what could have been a career ending Achilles injury in 2012 culminated in one of her best seasons of her career.

“This is a direct reflection of my teammates, both present and past, my coaching staff, medical staff, press officer – it’s been a long time that I’ve been playing on this team, and I couldn’t appreciate all that everybody has done for me. Winning the Olympics with my teammates was obviously fantastic. This is for them. This is theirs. For the fans, too. It’s unbelievable.”

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