(Getty Images)
Hope Solo will play soccer as Abby Wambach’s teammate for the final time on Wednesday evening, and before doing so she took some time to write her thoughts about her longtime U.S. teammate for SI’s The Cauldron. Solo’s national team debut predates Wambach’s, but other than Wambach missing the 2008 Olympic Games with a broken leg, the pair have been together for just about every important moment since Wambach joined the squad in the fall of 2001. Wednesday night, Wambach will play her final soccer match when the U.S. concludes what turned out to be a nine-match Victory Tour against China.
Solo praised Wambach for everything from her locker room antics to her curiosity about life to her generous nature. Speaking vaguely about her own off-field troubles through the years Solo said:
I realized that people didn’t know what to say to me at times, and didn’t know how to handle situations. Abby didn’t either, but Abby would always be honest about not knowing how she could help and expressing a willingness to do anything she could. She just wanted me to know she was there. Sometimes that’s all it takes to be there for somebody. It’s a quality I have always respected and admired in her.”
The full story can be seen here.
