Armour: Abby Wambach driven by the one title that has eluded her

VANCOUVER — Of the hundreds, no, thousands of games Abby Wambach has played, the date of only one is emblazoned in her memory.

July 17, 2011.

To come so close to the World Cup title and then leave empty-handed, that kind of heartbreak and anguish doesn't fade. It sears your soul, producing a smoldering fire that drives you like nothing else.

So here it is, four years later, and the U.S. has another crack at Japan for the World Cup title. No matter that Wambach has scored more international goals than any other player, male or female. On Sunday, she'll come off the bench, she'll be the team's head cheerleader.

Heck, she'll carry the water bottles if it means the Americans can finally call themselves World Cup champions again.

Anything so she doesn't have to feel the pain of July 17, 2011, again.

"It's a constant reminder. It's been a constant reminder," Wambach said Friday, passion crackling off of her like sparks. "It's been that thing that's been within us, that fuels our fire, that motivates us.

"All I care about," she said, "is winning this World Cup."

Wambach is, without question, one of the best to ever play the game. In addition to her record for goals – 183, for those counting – she was FIFA's world player of the year in 2012. She has two Olympic gold medals, and it would be three if not for the broken leg she suffered just before the Beijing Games in 2008.

She has been the face of the U.S. team for the better part of a decade, as well as its heart and soul. She has made growing the women's game her mission, challenging FIFA to step up and calling the governing body out when she feels it's falling short.

But there is one gap in her resumé, and it just about kills her.

"In 2011, I felt like the stars were aligning," Wambach said. "But guess what? The stars can blow up at any moment for us."

The Americans blew not one, but two leads against Japan, ultimately losing on penalty kicks. The U.S. got some measure of payback the following year by beating Japan for the gold medal at the London Olympics.

But it is the World Cup by which greatness is measured, and it is that title that Wambach craves. At 35, she's already said this is her last World Cup. Her last chance to win that elusive title. If that means sacrificing her ego and her spot as a starter, fine. So be it.

"I've said this my whole career, it takes a whole team. It's not about one person. It will never be about one person in a team sport," Wambach said. "And if you truly, truly honor and believe that, then whether you're starting or you're not, shouldn't matter.

"I want this for our team. Because everybody has had a critical part."

It's one thing to say that, though. It's another to live up to it.

Telling a celebrated veteran it's time to take a back seat could blow up on a team. We've seen it time and again, in every sport. Yet Wambach told U.S. coach Jill Ellis from Day One that she would do whatever it took to win the World Cup, and she hasn't wavered.

"She's been exemplary in terms of what she's given this team and how she's conducted herself," Ellis said. "It's still the same mindset. Whatever we need, she'll deliver."

That unselfishness hasn't gone unnoticed by her teammates. Yes, they want to win the World Cup for themselves and for the team as a whole.

But they want it for Wambach, too. She has given her team everything she's had over her long career, and a little bit of payback seems only fair.

"I want nothing more than to help her legacy and to win a World Cup," Carli Lloyd said. "Obviously, I want to win it for myself and for the team. But I will do whatever it takes to get the job done."

And then July 5, 2015 will be the day that Wambach never forgets.