USWNT

Alex Morgan wasn’t even a professional player when she stepped out onto the field for the USWNT on November 20th, 2010. Her team was full of them, but she herself was still nearly three months away from being drafted by the Western New York Flash into Women’s Pro Soccer.

It’s an accomplishment any time a player can score for her country. Abby Wambach has done it 184 times, more than any other player (male or female) in the world. While that feat is amazing, Abby didn’t score her first goal until her second game.

One of the cool things about winning something major in sports (other than, obviously, winning something major in sports) is that you get to meet the President. This is what happened to the USWNT Tuesday, as they visited the White House and hung out with Barack Obama. 

Obama had some very kind words to say about the USWNT, including this perfect line about the USWNT and changing peoples' minds about womens sports and soccer.

After years of dominance with the United States Women’s National Soccer team, forward Abby Wambach announces retirement from soccer following the USWNT’s World Cup celebration at the White House today.

As she leaves the game, Wambach holds the record as the leading scorer — for both men and women — in international soccer, with 184 goals in 252 international appearances.

Her USWNT swansong will be the final four games of the team’s 10-game victory tour, with her final match coming on Dec. 16 against China in New Orleans.

Who do you think is better at kicking something, Carli Lloyd or Vince Wilfork?

The producers of HBO show "Hard Knocks" endeavored to find out the answer by having the World Cup Golden Ball winner take on the All-Pro defensive tackle in a friendly field goal-kicking contest. 

We won't spoil the ending, but we will say that Wilfork, who it can be assumed has far less kicking things experience than Lloyd impressed with his kicking things ablility.

We should have know this, though, because Vince Wilfork is always loose. He said so himself.

It’s been just a few days since she announced her decision to retire, and Rachel van Hollebeke is busy. She starts medical school on Monday, August 31st, just six days after her announcement on the 25th. That’s six days until a transition that is four years in the making begins. 

Rachel has been deferring acceptance to medical school since 2011. Her decision means that her soccer career is ending, and as much as she has been looking forward to medical school, it was a hard choice to make. 

This is just too much soccer talent for one meeting. Lionel Messi, hands-down the best male soccer player in the world, was in Houston training with the Argentine national team. Carli Lloyd, hands-hown the best female soccer player in the world, was also in Houston, because she plays for the Houston Dash of the NWSL. A rendesvous seemed obvious. And it happened. 

Collegiate soccer programs began to truly emerge sometime in the 1980s. For women, the passage of Title IX opened up opportunities for female athletes that were only available to men playing football (the oblong type) and basketball. Men’s soccer programs have been around significantly longer (the first NCAA championship was played in 1959), but consistently take a backseat to padded football and madness of basketball.

Very soon, Carli Lloyd wil be able to add the title "published author" to her already impressive list of accolades.

Lloyd signed a book deal with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for her memoir, set to be released later in 2016.

The book is expected to cover Lloyd's soccer career, including the time she almost quit the sport entirely.