U.S. Wambach is woman to watch in soccer

The Americans face Greece in their opening match on Wednesday.
IRAKLION, Greece (AP) -- After another botched pass from the left wing, Abby Wambach stopped, clenched her fists and yelled to the heavens: "I can't cross!"
A few minutes later, she was at the other end of the crossing pass drill, receiving the ball from Mia Hamm and volleying it into the net with devastating power.
"Those two are lethal up there," said goalkeeper Briana Scurry, who was helpless to stop most of Wambach's shots. "They're, if not the best tandem in the tournament, one of the best. It's a synchronicity they have."
Snapshot
The drill was the highlight of Monday's practice for the U.S. women's soccer team, offering a snapshot of the player who is the most formidable scoring threat in the Olympic tournament. Wambach has netted 14 goals in her last 15 games -- an unbelievable stretch by any measure in international soccer -- and she will again be the linchpin of the attack when the Americans face host Greece in their opening game Wednesday.
"I don't think I could have written this story any better," said Wambach, who 18 months ago didn't appear to be in coach April Heinrich's plans. "I've been fortunate to be given the opportunity by April to prove myself."
In basketball terms, Wambach is the ultimate low-post presence. She's the tallest player on the team at 5-foot-11, with a muscular build that makes her hard to stop when someone gets her the ball in scoring position.
Was tight, now lose
Until last year, her main obstacle to success with the national team was herself. Wambach would score with abandon with the Washington Freedom of the now-defunct WUSA, but she would tighten up and lose her confidence when invited to practice with legends such as Hamm at the U.S. camps.
"I was infuriated with myself for not being able to perform because I was doing it with the Freedom," Wambach said. "I started thinking, 'I've got to start playing without any care of what anyone thinks of me, what April thinks of me.' Once I lost the worries of trying to please a coach, I started playing my own game, and that's when things really started to turn around for me."
Wambach already is No. 12 on the all-time U.S. scoring list with 28 goals, even though she's made just 40 appearances. She's a long way from Hamm's world-record of 151 goals, but that mark will one day be in serious jeopardy if Wambach keeps scoring in 70 percent of her games.
Personality potential
Wambach has the personality that could make her the team captain by the time the next Olympics come around, after Hamm and the other longtime veterans from the original 1991 World Cup team have retired. For now, though, Wambach is concentrating on these games and those veterans, determined to give them a successful send-off.
"These are the last games that a lot of us are going to have a chance to play with these '91ers, and I don't forget that," she said. "I'm going to be absorbing and taking in as much as I can to remember it for the rest of my life."