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Wambach accepting her reduced role for U.S. team

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - For almost all of her 14-year professional career, Abby Wambach has been the ultimate example of consistency.

United States forward Abby Wambach (20) walks off the field after defeating Australia 3-1 in a Group D soccer match in the 2015 women's World Cup at Winnipeg Stadium. (Bruce Fedyck/USA Today)
United States forward Abby Wambach (20) walks off the field after defeating Australia 3-1 in a Group D soccer match in the 2015 women's World Cup at Winnipeg Stadium. (Bruce Fedyck/USA Today)Read more

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - For almost all of her 14-year professional career, Abby Wambach has been the ultimate example of consistency.

As the 35-year-old Rochester, N.Y., native approaches the last World Cup game she'll ever play, however, she presents a paradox. The less she plays, the better it seems the U.S. team plays. But she admitted that she gets it.

"As a competitor and as somebody who has an ego, of course I want to play. I want to start, I want to help my team," Wambach said Friday as she prepared for the title game Sunday against Japan at BC Place. "But guess what? I know that I'm a little bit older, and I know that my teammates are as good, if not sometimes better than me in some aspects of the game."

Four years ago in Germany, Wambach played every minute of every game and was the runner-up in the voting for the Golden Ball award given to the tournament's most outstanding player. This summer in Canada, she has played in all six games, but she has started only four and has logged 286 minutes out of a possible 540.

"I'm business-focused, waiting for my chance whenever I get called from my coaches to go out on the field and help my team," she said. "Of course I want to start."

That doesn't mean it has been easy. Indeed, at times it has been quite hard for Wambach to just sit and watch.

"I'm not going to say this because it's brutal to sit on a bench because I'm not playing. It's brutal because I really think it's taking years off my life," Wambach quipped. "I now understand what my parents have been going through [as fans]. ... You don't have control of the outcome unless you're on the pitch."

But Wambach unquestionably remains a leader. Just look at her profanity-laced rallying cry at halftime of the quarterfinal game against China. She insisted that the Americans would score a goal in the first 10 minutes of the second half, and Carli Lloyd did just that.

"It's not about one person - it will never be about one person in a team sport," Wambach said. "And if you truly honor and believe that, then whether you're starting or you're not shouldn't matter. Because I want this team to win, and I hope that you guys can see who the first one off the bench is - if somebody is in and I'm on the bench - who the first one off the bench is hoping that we score a goal."

That is indeed Wambach. As has been the case for her entire career, whether she is on the field or on the sidelines, she remains impossible to miss.