Former Gators Heather Mitts & Abby Wambach Named to USA's 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup Roster
Monday, May 9, 2011 | Soccer
Former Gator All-American soccer players Heather Mitts and Abby Wambach are part of the USA roster for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup. Both Mitts and Wambach were starters on the University of Florida's 1998 NCAA championship team. The 21-player roster was revealed Monday morning on ESPN SportsCenter by Wambach and fellow U.S. Women's National Team member Heather O'Reilly.
| Did You Know… | |
| The USA World Cup roster has contained a Gator since the 1999 event. Danielle Fotopoulos was part of the USA's gold-medal team in 1999. | |
| Year | Players with UF Ties on USA Roster |
| 1999 | Danielle Fotopoulos |
| 2003 | Abby Wambach |
| 2007 | Abby Wambach |
| 2011 | Heather Mitts & Abby Wambach |
The 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup will be held in nine cities in Germany from June 26-July 17. The USA is part of Group C and opens the tournament against North Korea on June 28 in Dresden.
This is Wambach's third Women's World Cup appearance, as she also was on the 2003 and 2007 U.S. rosters. She currently is the fourth all-time leading scorer in international soccer history with 117 goals. She led the USA in scoring at the 2003 and 2007 FIFA Women's World Cups and the 2004 Olympics, where she scored the winning goal in the gold medal match. Wambach missed the 2008 Olympics as she broke her left leg in the USA's final warm-up match prior to leaving for China. The two-time U.S. Soccer Female Athlete of the Year (2003 and 2004) is a member of the magicJack team of the Women's Professional Soccer league.
Wambach is the Gators' career leader in goals (96), assists (50) and points (242) and stands seventh 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 2001.
Mitts is among the 12 players on the USA roster making their first World Cup appearance, although she is familiar with soccer on the major international stage. Mitts was part of the USA's 2004 and 2008 gold-medal Olympic teams, starting at right back in each of the six matches of the 2008 Olympic run. Mitts was expected to be a part of the USA's 2007 World Cup roster, but a left anterior cruciate ligament tear suffered in an international friendly on May 12, 2007 put her out of contention for that World Cup cycle. Mitts plays for the Atlanta Beat of the WPS.
As a Gator, Mitts earned All-America and All-SEC honors in her final two seasons (1998 & '99). Mitts is third on UF's career list with 7,547 minutes played and is tied for fourth with 95 matches played. The defender also was a NCAA Championship All-Tournament team selection when the Gators claimed the 1998 national title.
U.S. Women's National Team Roster by Position Detailed Roster
GOALKEEPERS (3): Nicole Barnhart (Stanford)**, Jill Loyden (Villanova)*, Hope Solo (Washington)**
DEFENDERS (7): Rachel Buehler (Stanford)*, Stephanie Cox (Portland)**, Ali Krieger (Penn State)*, Amy LePeilbet (Arizona State)*, Heather Mitts (Florida)*, Christie Rampone (Monmouth)****, Becky Sauerbrunn (Virginia)*
MIDFIELDERS (7): Shannon Boxx (Notre Dame)***, Tobin Heath (North Carolina)*, Lori Lindsey (Virginia)*, Carli Lloyd (Rutgers)**, Heather O'Reilly (North Carolina)**, Megan Rapinoe (Portland)*, Lindsay Tarpley (North Carolina)**
FORWARDS (4): Lauren Cheney (UCLA)*, Alex Morgan (California)*, Amy Rodriguez (Southern California)*, Abby Wambach (Florida)***
*-World Cup appearances
