Abby Wambach has one immediate goal — help the U.S. women win the World Cup in soccer, which starts next week in Canada. It's the one major title that has eluded her.
A goal for the future is to raise a baby with her wife, Sarah Huffman. And if Wambach gets her way, the baby will have some serious sports genes. From Grant Wahl's terrific cover story in Sports Illustrated:
Wambach remains unsure about exactly what she’ll do when she’s done playing soccer. She knows that she wants to keep going through the 2016 Olympics, if possible, and after that she wants to get pregnant and have a baby. “I could probably genetically engineer a professional athlete on some level,” she says. “Maybe get somebody else’s stuff who plays a sport, like American football. I just need to find somebody who would be willing to do it.”
Must Reads
I don't think she'll have any trouble finding somebody willing to do it, and maybe she can produce future quarterbacks like the Mannings. But her first task is to win the World Cup. Wambach recounts the three painful losses she has had in pursuit of the goal and she realizes this will be her last chance. "It's something that motivates me," Wambach said. "I wouldn't define myself or my career on not winning a World Cup. "I will define myself on, 'Did my character shine through in a way that I'm proud of?' "
Wambach is on two of the Sports Illustrated covers for the World Cup, one solo:
