It’s finally time to see the United States women’s national team wrap up their victory tour, which began in the fall after they won the Women’s World Cup in dramatic fashion. It’s been a long and bumpy road, with bad fields, a canceled match, and occasionally uneven performances along the way, but after four months, their whirlwind tour of the country is coming to a close in the celebration capital of the US — New Orleans.
USA vs. China 2015: Time, TV schedule and team news for Abby Wambach’s last game
It’s time to bid adieu to one of the all-time great women’s soccer players.
Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
The USWNT has won all but one of their matches since beating Japan 5-2 in the World Cup final in Canada back in July, drawing 1-1 with Brazil back in October. They’ve won all seven of their other matches, with an eighth against Trinidad & Tobago in Hawaii canceled for the poor state of the field which had seen Megan Rapinoe go down with a serious knee injury in training. Now it’s time to end the tour on a high note, facing China in the Superdome on Wednesday night, just days after beating them 2-0 in Phoenix.
Since the match takes place just minutes from the ever-raucous Bourbon Street, many in attendance may be focused more on the post-match celebrations, but it seems as though Jill Ellis might be set to tinker a bit during the actual match. Young players Jaelene Hinkle, Emily Sonnett, Stephanie McCaffrey, Sam Mewis and Lindsey Horan have been getting time in recent games, while Rose Lavelle and Danielle Colapricio could get their first caps on Wednesday.
What it’s all about — Saying goodbye to Abby Wambach
Of course, the biggest news of this match almost eclipses the game itself. This match doesn’t just end the victory tour — it ends the career of Abby Wambach. A fixture in the USWNT since her debut in 2001, She’s the national team’s all-time leading scorer, with a staggering 184 goals in 254 caps over the last 14 years, which makes for an astounding career no matter how you slice it.
She’s unquestionably going out on a high note, helping lead the United States to Women’s World Cup glory this past summer. Wambach scored just one goal — the team’s lone tally in a 1-0 triumph over Nigeria in the group stage — but her leadership still helped her team to the top prize in women’s soccer. That goal was Wambach’s 14th in World Cup action for her career, putting her in second place on the all-time Women’s World Cup scoring list, one behind Brazil legend Marta.
How much playing time Wambach sees in this match is unknown. She hasn’t played much during the victory tour, usually just 20 minutes or so per match. Given that this is her swan song, though, we’ll either see her start the match in order to get her plenty of time in front of the fans and a standing ovation when she’s eventually subbed off, or brought on earlier in the second half than we’ve usually seen in order to still get her playing time and assure that her career ends on the field, not watching the final whistle from the bench.
No matter what, we should treasure however many minutes of Abby Wambach we get in this match. It’s been a hell of a career, and it’s sad to see it end.
Match Date/Time: Wednesday, 8 p.m. ET, 7 p.m. local
Venue: Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
TV: Fox Sports 1 (U.S.)
Online: Fox Sports Go (U.S.)
