Last month at Red Bull Arena, Abby Wambach watched the U.S. national team from field level for a few minutes, before stepping out onto the grass a at halftime alongside former U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati. Both were just elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame, and both were given a resounding round of applause from the near sell-out crowd at the USWNT’s final send-off match.



Just having those few moments, having her former teammates and the new generation of USWNT players reaching out as they went by her to head to the locker room for the break, were enough of a reminder of what she loved most about the game.



“These individual awards have always paled in comparison to the relationships and championships I was able to be a part of,” Wambach told the media. “For sure the number one thing that I miss about playing is the people, and you know, just being down on the field, and seeing the game even from the field perspective, I...