Abby Wambach Slams Jurgen Klinsmann, Comments on Egos Within USMNT

Abby Wambach said she would fire Jurgen Klinsmann as head coach of the U.S. men's national team and has criticised the German for bringing "foreign" players into the international fold.

The legendary U.S. women's national team striker is set to play the final match of her career on Thursday in New Orleans against China having won the World Cup back in July, and she will sign off as the most prolific international goalscorer of all time, perhaps adding to her current tally of 184 goals in 254 matches, per BBC Sport.

Unlike the women, the USA men have not enjoyed the best of years on the international stage, and Wambach believes there needs to be a change at the top. She was also critical of the egoism within the men's setup, making particular reference to Klinsmann, per the Bill Simmons Podcast (via soccer analyst and former USMNT player Alexi Lalas):

She is far from the only person dissatisfied with Klinsmann following a year in which the U.S. only managed fourth place at the Gold Cup and lost the Confederations Cup play-off against Mexico.

However, the former Germany and Bayern Munich boss has a contract with U.S. Soccer until 2018 and led an impressive campaign at last year's World Cup as his side reached the last 16 before going out to Belgium in extra time.

Lalas welcomed Wambach's upfront comments but questioned what the 35-year-old meant by "foreign" players:

The individuals she picked out as "foreign guys"—Jones and Johnson–are both German-born and represented Germany at youth level.

Sports Illustrated's Greg Wahl indicated Wambach may regret labelling them in such a way, especially as they have both represented the U.S. on numerous occasions:

However, there is very little that Wambach could do to tarnish her reputation, and she will rightly sign off from her incredible career as a bona fide legend of the game.

It is unlikely, though, that she will get her wish of seeing Klinsmann removed from the top job at the USMNT any time soon.