Abby Wambach: Performance Analysis

Abby Wambach produced a simply magnificent performance at the weekend, playing a key role in a very impressive win for the USA team.  Beyond that, Wambach upped her career scoring tally for the national team to 107 goals in 138 games (one goal every 1.29 games).  To put that achievement in perspective, Wambach is scoring at a faster rate than the legendary Mia Hamm who hit 158 goals in 257 games (one goal every 1.63 games).  Abby Wambach is simply the most effective female player on the planet today, and could be making a run to surpass others on the road to being the greatest to play.  So what is the reason for Wambach’s dominance?

A primary factor for Wambach’s success is the fact that she possesses size, speed, and presence that is simply uncommon in the female game.  The ability of Wambach to out muscle defenders and win aerial challenges is a constant threat to any opposition.  The fact she was paired with the speedy Amy Rodriguez made for a dangerous combination.  The USA found success with balls in the channels out wide for young A-Rod leaving the German central defenders in a tough situation.  Defend the goal and leave A-Rod space, or be dragged out wide knowing Wambach is waiting for a cross to head on goal.  Any cross into the area is a legitimate goal threat when Wambach is the target.

The aerial ability of Wambach also has a huge impact on the USA’s ability to dominate possession.  Goal kicks and punts from Hope Solo went long and often found Wambach who was able to hold up possession.  This both cleared the danger and allowed the USA to play larger portions of the game in the German half.  It is of huge benefit to a defensive team to know that if no short passing options are available a long high ball is not an automatic turnover and will in fact often lead to your team retaining possession.

With regards to long passes, the high driven ball from Heather Mitts seemed a common pattern, particularly in the first half.  Most of the time this led to Wambach trapping with her chest and moving possession effectively through the midfield area, or flicking on for the speedy Rodriguez to threaten the German back line.

Wambach is also very capable when playing with her back to goal and the ball played into feet.  She drifted cleverly in areas too high for defenders to feel comfortable being sucked into, and just deep enough to not be picked up by midfielders.  Her interlink play with Shannon Boxx and Lori Lindsey was nice to watch and a real problem for the world champion Germans.

Such a spearhead is Wambach it would be fascinating to see the game played again with her not playing.  The 4-0 score line suggests a heavy beating and that was not the flow of the game.  The first 28 minutes were an entertaining end to end affair, the German team threatening the USA back line with some fast  and direct flank play.  When the breakthrough came, Wambach was at the heart of it.

A driven pass was played into the feet of Abby who put her body between the defender and the ball.  Unable to physically move Wambach legally, the German defender wrapped her arms around the big forward and dragged her down for a penalty. The felled striker got up to ably convert the penalty into the bottom corner.

Corner kicks were dangerous all day as Wambach provided a mismatch in her team's favor at every set piece.  The second goal was caused when she powerfully headed a corner on target that the German keeper Angerer could save but not hold.  Heather O’Reilly scored from the resulting scramble.

The magnificent performance was capped when she beat two German defenders off the dribble before cleverly cutting back for Kristine Lilly to score, before scoring the fourth goal herself with an excellent one time finish under pressure.

Wambach’s play after the fourth goal is an example to young players throughout the world.  We live in a culture where such a performance may lead a player to take her foot off the gas and smile at her achievement, maybe make some smug comments to a defender that has kicked and fouled her throughout the match.  Such thinking is beneath Wambach, who within two minutes of scoring had tracked back defensively and received possession 10 yards outside her own penalty area.

The team spirit of Wambach shone through in the 90th minute when she was presented with an easy opportunity for the hat trick her performance deserved.  Instead she chose to square to young teammate Alex Morgan and award the youngster with her first international goal.  The attempt was wrongly ruled out for offside, but the message had been sent.  Many good players will go to Germany for the World Cup next year, will any be more feared than Abby Wambach?