Teaming Up with Becky Sauerbrunn: Abby Wambach

Abby Wambach (0:00)

We both deeply knew that the other was making us better. I think it both also pissed us off when the other would have our number that day. There were many practices that I would walk off the field, and I'm like, I can't f***ing score a goal when Becky is on me.

Becky Sauerbrunn (0:17)

Hi, everyone. Welcome back to Teaming Up with Becky Sauerbrunn, brought to you by The Women's Game. I am thrilled to be back with my Nerd Squad for season two. Today on the show, we are joined by World Cup champion, two-time Olympic gold medalist, New York Times bestselling author, activist, co-host of Welcome to the Party podcast, Abby Wambach. When you think of the Mount Rushmore of US Women's National Team players, Abby is on there. She's most likely snuggled right between Mia Hamm and Alex Morgan, global superstars of our sport who thrived both on and off the field. Theirs is a legacy of shining bright in the spotlight, becoming household names with their faces on posters and their names on the back of jerseys. So it's wild to juxtapose that image of Abby with the one I shared a hotel room with, the person who told me to clap loudly in the middle of the night if she was snoring, which was often. You really get to know someone when you share space with them 24-7.

I was in this middle space where I both idolized Abby for the leader that she was, but also knew we couldn't have been more different as people. And there were times when our vibes weren't vibing, that the disconnect between us felt uncomfortable, that we couldn't quite figure each other out. It took time for me to fully appreciate these differences, that Abby had shown me a type of leadership that was effective and loud, but that didn't mean my quiet leadership was ineffective. It was just a different style with a different approach. And with time, as so often happens, we became closer, our temperaments more similar than they once were. And there is an understanding now that as a leader of the Uswnt's national team, you often have to become what the team needs at the time, and with Abby what the sport needs at the time. She carried a lot for us.

I really enjoyed getting to talk to her about it, and I hope you will too. Here's my talk with Abby Wambach.

Abby, thanks for coming on Teaming Up.

Abby Wambach (2:04)

Yes.

Becky Sauerbrunn (2:06)

I'm really, I'm very, very happy to have you. We've probably seen each other more in the last few weeks than maybe all of your retirement.

Abby Wambach (2:17)

It's true. The Men's World Cup really helped bring us together in a good way.

Becky Sauerbrunn (2:22)

It really did. And it was really fun going on your show. Welcome to the party. We discussed the Men's World Cup with fellow Women's World Cup winners. I mean, we are talking about Lily and Acres and Fowdy, Chastain, Scurry, Ham, Ertz. Like, if I could talk to my 14-year-old self and say, hey, in a bunch of years, you're going to just be yucking it up with your heroes. I mean, she would have absolutely freaked because I've said it before. That 1999 team was the team for me. Like, they sparked the dream. Who was that team for you?

Abby Wambach (2:58)

Same. I was 19 Yeah, I was 19 and in college and had yet to get called into the senior team. So actually, it's funny because after that episode recorded, you texted me and you said, my 14-year-old self is geeking out along with my 41-year-old self. I don't know. I was like, me too. That's the kind of stuff that I feel still so touched by and nervous about. These women who won that 99 Women's World Cup, they were like my heroines. They were my heroes, these bigger than life objects. Some of them lived on the walls in my childhood bedroom.

Then I had to walk in to a locker room with them and become teammates with them.

That for me was the most mind boggling, earth shattering, how is this happening, this is my life kind of time.

Even still, I get a little bit like, yeah, like giddy and nervous and quiet, which you know for me is a very, very difficult thing.

Becky Sauerbrunn (4:15)

I mean, you played in the 2003 World Cup, so you were their teammates pretty shortly after 1999 Who was your first roommate?

Abby Wambach (4:26)

I don't remember my first roommate, which is weird. I remember sitting on the floor of my hotel room, thinking and trying to concoct a plan to injure myself, to go home because I was so unconfident. I was like, how am I going to get out of here without losing respect?