Abby Wambach: 'The game I’m leaving is better than I found it'

A few days after Abby Wambach finally felt what it was like to be a World Cup champion and the retirement questions kept coming at her from all angles, her mother pulled her aside.

"I'm going to give you a piece of advice, because when you were a little girl this was how you handled things," Judy Wambach told the youngest of her seven children, the one who became an international soccer superstar.

When Abby's soccer seasons at Our Lady of Mercy High School ended, she'd say, "I never want to play soccer again," and her coach, Kathy Boughton, "would absolutely freak out," Judy Wambach recalled. Same thing happened after basketball season and Boughton would get antsy again.

"I kept saying, 'Kathy, just give her time,' because two weeks later she always started playing again."

So Abby's mother told her to give this retirement decision time, and after nearly four months Abby's mind is made up: She won't ever start playing again.

Wambach, 35, announced Tuesday that she’s going to retire in December, ending the career of the greatest goal-scorer in the sport’s history for a woman or man. The United States’ exhibition match on Dec. 16 against China in New Orleans will be Wambach’s last. The Pittsford native plans to play in three other December matches prior to that as the Americans wind down their Victory Tour to celebrate their first World Cup win since 1999.

"It’s time for me to walk away. I know the game I’m leaving is better than I found it," Wambach said via phone from near Washington, D.C., where earlier in the day President Obama honored the reigning World Cup champions. "I know the young studs — the Sydney Lerouxs, the Alex Morgans — they’re the ones that will take this game to the next paradigm and that’s something I’m excited to watch and see grow.

Database: All of Abby's international goals

"Thinking about my teammates and time spent with them, that’s what I’m going to miss most. It’s not going to be the sprints, it’s not going to be the traveling, it’s not going to be, even in some small way, the game. It’s going to be the people that I’ve been literally able to grow up with. I’m so blessed to have had the long career I’ve had with few injuries and I’m also blessed to have had a family that understood me being so gone all the time."

Her soccer resume is unmatched. An Olympic champion in 2004 and 2012, Wambach has 184 international goals in 252 career matches, the fifth-most appearances in U.S. history. She eclipsed the record of her former idol and teammate, Mia Hamm, in 2013. Wambach was named FIFA World Player of the Year in 2012, the biggest individual prize in her trailblazing, 15-year career as a physically dominant 5-foot-11 forward. She's regarded by most as the best in the world at taking shots with her head.

Her decision means she won't try to make the American squad for next summer's Olympics, that she'll go out on top, finally as a World Cup champion after coming up short in 2003, 2007 and 2011.

"Knowing where the game is at, knowing where I’m at, knowing what I’m capable of, right now is just the right time and, for me, I couldn’t be even more thrilled with the career that I’ve had," said Wambach, who has tried to manage the health of her "aging body," over the past few years. "I set out and accomplished everything that I ever thought possible could happen to a professional women’s soccer player."

Wambach will speak publicly on Wednesday about her retirement at the National Press Club Luncheon in D.C. Her parents flew to Washington on Tuesday. Her wife, Sarah Huffman, is expected to arrive Wednesday morning. The couple owns a home in Portland, Oregon.

She has been the face of the sport for more than a decade, since taking the torch from former stars such as Mia Hamm and Julie Foudy following the 2004 Olympics. That was Wambach's breakout tournament. She converted the gold-medal winning goal in the 112th minute in Athens, Greece, jumping to nod home the first of so many clutch headers.

The most memorable happened July 10, 2011, in Germany. The U.S. looked like it was about to lose to Brazil in the World Cup quarterfinals. It would have been the Americans' worst showing ever in a major tournament. But in the final seconds Megan Rapinoe lofted a cross to the far post and Wambach leaped high to spike it home, tying the match and saving the U.S. in the 122nd minute. Even though that stirring moment and the Americans' runner-up finish to Japan ignited a new level of popularity for women's soccer back home, the U.S. still didn't win the Cup.

Wambach knew this summer's tournament in Canada was her last chance to win the only major trophy that had eluded her. While her playing time diminished during the World Cup and she became a backup after starting two of the first three matches, she showed leadership in a new role and she kept saying that all that mattered was if her team won.

It did, capturing the final behind three goals from Carli Lloyd in a 5-2 win in Vancouver. Then Wambach needed to decide: Was the fairy tale complete for her? When does her next chapter start? She'd won an NCAA title in 1998 at the University of Florida, a pro soccer title with the Washington Freedom in 2003. She got married two years ago to Huffman, 31, a former teammate on a few pro teams, including the Western New York Flash in 2013. They want to have a family someday.

Is that now?

"I want to be a mom, absolutely, and I think at some point that's going to happen," Wambach said.

Shortly after the World Cup, she spent two weeks in Alexandria Bay in the Thousand Islands with her family. More time to think. What will she do? She phoned her parents about a week ago to tell them. "I'm just calling to have a talk with you and I don't want to disappoint you," Wambach said to her mother, "but I'm retiring."

Judy Wambach was relieved. Not because that's what she wanted, but she knew her daughter came to the decision on her own. That's why, she said, she purposely hadn't tried to talk to Abby about it much. "God, after all these years, it had to happen sometime," Judy said. "That's the nature of the game. You get old and you can't play anymore."

Abby knows there are younger players who are ready to step in to her shoes.

"I know I had and have value that I could bring to any team, but the reality for me is winning the World Cup validated and solidified everything I set out to do as it pertained to soccer," she said.

She plans to "travel the world," she said — now without having to go to practices and play matches — but the world hasn't heard the last of her. "I don't want to be someone who just played soccer," Wambach said. "I want to be somebody who changes the world. I think I have in some small way, but I think there's bigger things in store for me. ... I want to do whatever I can do to better the world, especially for women."

JDIVERON@Gannett.com

Abby's key moments with the USWNT

Sept. 9, 2001: Becomes first Rochester female to play for national team, playing 14 minutes in a 4-1 Nike U.S. Cup win against Germany in Chicago.

April 27, 2002: Scores her first career goal in a 3-0 win over Finland.

Aug. 26, 2003: A childhood dream comes true when she is named to the United States' Women's World Cup roster.

Aug. 11, 2004: Scores a goal in Olympic debut, a 3-0 win over Greece.

Aug. 26, 2004: Scores on a leaping header from 10 yards off Kristine Lilly's 112th-minute corner kick to give U.S. 2-1 OT victory over Brazil and Olympic gold.

July 16. 2008: Breaks left leg in a 1-0 win over Brazil in San Diego in United States' final tuneup for the Beijing Olympics. Misses the Olympics as U.S. wins gold.

July 19, 2009: Scores her 100th goal on 15-yard shot in a 1-0 exhibition win over Canada in Rochester.

July 10, 2011: Scores the latest goal in Women's World Cup history, a leaping header in 122nd minute of quarterfinals, to tie Brazil. The U.S. eventually won 5-3 in penalty kicks.

Jan. 7, 2012: Named FIFA World Player of the Year in Zurich, Switzerland.

Aug. 9, 2012: Wins her second Olympic gold medal, as U.S. beats Japan, 2-1, in London. Wambach had team-leading five goals in tourney.

June 20, 2013: Scores four times, all in first half, in 5-0 win over South Korea in New Jersey to eclipse Mia Hamm's world record of 158 career goals.

July 5, 2015: Wambach wins her first and only World Cup title when the United States beats Japan, 5-2, in Canada.

Photos: Wambach through the years

Photos: Abby's final World Cup

Photos: Abby smashes Mia's record