Good timing

Wambach opening U.S. eyes with World Cup approaching

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Six goals in six games. That's hard to ignore, especially with the World Cup less than two months away.

The hottest scorer in the WUSA has picked the right time to get her game in gear. After too much fretting over whether she was World Cup material, Abby Wambach of the Washington Freedom has calmed down and is putting forth a worthy case.

With U.S. national team coach April Heinrichs in the stands, Wambach struck again Saturday night with a goal in the Freedom's 2-0 victory over San Diego.

"I worked hard trying to focus more on the mental side of my game," Wambach said. "The more you look at yourself from a different perspective, from an outsider's point of view, and the more you ask for help, the better player you're going to be. And it's paid off."

Wambach took it hard when she didn't make Heinrichs' roster for a U.S.-Canada exhibition game in April, even though she had been a regular participant in the national team camps. The dual challenge of playing for club and auditioning for country had started to wear on last year's rookie of the year, and she needed to dump some of that psychological baggage.

"Abby can't control the decisions the coaches make," Freedom forward Mia Hamm said. "All Abby can control is her effort on the field. I think she finally realized that after the first couple of weeks on the season. She's been carrying this team right now."

Hamm and Wambach are developing a chemistry. Hamm assisted on Wambach's goal Saturday night, and the pair were a constant threat all game.

But, as it has been proved throughout the world in both men's and women's soccer, a great club player doesn't always translate into a good national team player. Heinrichs said Wambach needs to learn to elevate her game at the national team camps, when the competition is most fierce.

"Some players play at the club level, and they come into the national team and they jack up their level," Heinrichs said. "Some players play very well at the club level, and they come into the national team, and they can't jack it up. It takes several years to get used to that intensity and the speed of play and the psychological warfare. The majority of players in the world are good players at the club level and struggle to get across that threshold at the national team."

Despite the cautionary tone, Heinrichs went on to say that she's never seen Wambach play better. Wambach's chances for the World Cup have also been helped by injuries to forwards Shannon MacMillan and Heather O'Reilly. It's uncertain whether either will be healthy by the time the tournament starts in September.

These are deliberative times for Heinrichs, who was still talking to longtime U.S. stars Julie Foudy and Joy Fawcett on the field some 40 minutes after Saturday's game. Heinrichs also had a big hug for Hamm, whose electrifying 20-yard free kick near the end of the game showed that the world's all-time greatest scorer still has the touch.

But Foudy, Fawcett and Hamm know they'll make the team. Wambach is very much on the bubble, and she'll take any encouragement she can get. She got an e-mail last week from Heinrichs after a two-goal game against New York, and that really made her day.

"She wants the players that have the potential to be on the roster to know that she's watching," Wambach said. "If that's not motivation right there, to be on the World Cup roster, I don't know what is."

 

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