Wambach's Goal Gives U.S. Olympic Gold
Thursday, August 26, 2004 | Soccer
Former University of Florida standout Abby Wambach scored the biggest goal of her career in the Olympic final stage, giving the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team the gold medal with a 2-1 overtime victory over Brazil Thursday in the Karaiskaki Stadium. Another former Gator on the U.S. roster, Heather Mitts, did not play on Thursday.
The win gives the U.S. its second Olympic gold medal. The first came in 1996 in Athens, Ga., and improves on the team's silver medal at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.
With the match tied 1-1, Wambach headed Kristine Lilly's left-footed inswinging corner kick to the back post to give the U.S. the go-ahead goal in the 113th minute. It was Wambach's fourth goal of the Olympics and 18th in her last 20 games.
The U.S. took the early lead when Lindsay Tarpley scored in the 39th minute. Pretinha scored for Brazil in the 73rd to force overtime.
Wambach is the Gators' career leader in goals (96), assists (50) and points (242) and stands sixth on the NCAA Career charts in goals and points. She earned National Soccer Coaches Association of American (NSCAA) All-America first-team honors in 1999 and 2001. She is a four-time member of the All-Southeastern Conference first team and picked up the SEC Player of the Year award in 2000 and '01.
| U.S. Women's National Team Game Report |
| Match-up: USA vs. Brazil |
| Competition: 2004 Olympics – Final |
| Venue: Karaiskaki Stadium; Athens, Greece |
| Date: August 26, 2004; Kickoff -9 p.m. local / 2 p.m. ET |
| Scoring Summary: | |||||
| 1 | 2 | OT1 | OT2 | Final | |
| USA | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| BRAZIL | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| USA – Lindsay Tarpley (Brandi Chastain) 39th |
| BRAZIL - Pretinha (Cristiane) 73rd |
| USA - Abby Wambach (Kristin Lilly) 113th |
| Statistical Summary: | ||
| USA | BRAZIL | |
| Shots: | 10 | 17 |
| Corner Kicks: | 3 | 1 |
| Yellow Cards | 0 | 2 |
| Offside: | 0 | 5 |
