U.S. Soccer has an Abby Wambach problem. The World Cup winner and international soccer’s most prolific goal scorer—male or female—made headlines again last week not for her scoring prowess, but for her off the pitch conduct. In a very poignant and candid interview with the New York Times, Wambach valiantly discussed battling alcohol and painkiller abuse and depression while coming to terms with the end of her marriage and career. The problem with the interview came when was she asked about her previous criticism of the U.S. Men’s National Team (USMNT) Coach Jürgen Klinsmann and his use of so-called “dual-nationals”—players with multiple passports who are eligible to represent both the U.S. and other nations at the international level. Previously, in an interview with Bill Simmons late last year, she criticized Klinsmann for bringing in “foreign guys” to play for the USMNT, specifically naming Fabian Johnson and Jermaine Jones. Her comments caused an uproar in many U.S. soccer circles, and for good reason. Both of the players she mentioned have American passports and are the sons of American servicemen who were stationed in Germany, not to mention Johnson and Jones are standout players for the US.
After keeping mostly quiet since those comments, she doubled down on her criticism of dual nationals in the USMNT in her interview with the Times, this time attacking the players directly instead of just Jürgen. She insinuated that dual nationals took the easy way out in choosing to play for the U.S., stating, “to me that just feels like they weren’t able to make it for their country and earn a living, so they’re coming here.”
She went on to question both their “killer instinct” and how much they “love their country”, this time calling out Norwegian-American Mix Diskerud.
Wambach is well within her right to criticize Klinsmann (and, for my money, levels some very fair criticisms on other issues), but on the issue of dual-nationals, not only is she dead-wrong, she is downright irresponsible. First and foremost, the claim that dual national players could not “earn a living” playing for their countries, so they settled for the USMNT is factually incorrect. Comparing U.S. national team duty and earning a livelihood is an apples-to-oranges comparison in that the former makes up a small portion of a player’s time and income. Further, both Johnson and John Brooks, arguably the USMNT’s best players currently and both German-Americans, play at elite clubs in the German Bundesliga; likewise, Jones spent the vast majority of his career in Germany before moving to Major League Soccer, as did Diskerud with his native Norway.
More troubling though is the fact that probably the U.S.’s greatest player of all time, men’s or women’s, and undoubtedly a role model, is openly questioning the patriotism and commitment of American players who have chosen to represent the stars and stripes at the international level. Many of the dual-nationals subject to Wambach’s criticisms are the sons of American servicemen who have seen firsthand what dedication to the country she claims to love means. To claim that John Brooks, who has both his family’s native Illinois and his native Berlin tattooed on his arms, or Julian Green, who was born in Tampa and raised in Germany, don’t love this country because they have dual citizenship is frankly little more than thinly veiled xenophobia. They pull on the U.S. kit and, to use the famous platitude, shed blood and sweat for this country, the same as Wambach.
While Wambach is not alone in her sentiments (U.S. legend Landon Donovan and former USMNT manager Bruce Arena have made similar comments), she has been the most outspoken critic. In the midst of a presidential election characterized by ugly, bigoted and xenophobic rhetoric, it falls on role models like Wambach to elevate the level of discourse rather than reinforce such divides. It’s a privilege to represent the U.S. on the international stage at any level, and to not only belittle the efforts Jones, Johnson, Brooks and others have made to do so, but to openly question their love of this country brings unnecessary division to sport, the sole thing that brings together Americans of all beliefs.
Soccer itself is unique in that its fan base is exceptionally young and diverse. Wambach needs to be more responsible with her rhetoric and seek to unify, rather than divide, U.S. Soccer at a time when the program can serve as a model of inclusion for a divided country.