Olympic Soccer 2012: Passing of the Torch from Abby Wambach to Alex Morgan

In the 123rd minute of one of the most exciting games in Women's Olympic Footballing history, Alex Morgan rose to head the United States Women's National Team into the Olympic final.

But it was more than just a game-winning goal.

It was the passing of the torch that the US team has been building up to since last years World Cup.

Just as Mia Hamm passed the torch to Wambach after the 2004 Olympics, Wambach herself will now pass the torch the player affectionately known as "Baby Horse." Abby Wambach can finally slip into the background knowing that the US has its new leader.

While they are both great players, they are very different as players and people.

Wambach is tall and powerful and the type of player who lets her football do the talking. She doesn’t have the megawatt personality and image that Mia Hamm had, but she doesn’t mind. All that matters to her is what happens on the pitch. With 143 goals in 187 appearances for the USWNT, she is just 15 goals shy of Mia Hamm’s all-time goal scoring record.

She will surely continue chasing that record, but I can’t see her being around in 3 years at the next World Cup, given her injury history. And when she does retire she will leave as one of the all-time greats.

Alex Morgan, on the other hand, is lithe and quick. She has devastating pace that she uses to get in behind the opposition to great effect. She is also more famous for her looks and modelling shoots than her prowess on the pitch.

That will all change with this landmark goal and, hopefully, an Olympic gold medal.

With the combination of poster girl looks and the outstanding footballing talent, Morgan is the perfect player to build on the creditably the likes of Hamm and Wambach brought to the game. She already has a huge interactive following, so her exploits on the field will be more closely followed than the previous generation.

We can only hope that Wambach has passed on some of the honesty of effort and massive self determination that have been hallmarks of her career.

The Gold medal match on Thursday night could be the moment that Alex Morgan finally grabs the reins of the team and prepares to drive the USWNT into a bright new era.

Whatever happens, she'll need a new nickname, as "Baby Horse" is now a thoroughbred.