Abby Wambach wins a header in the first half of a match against Iceland on September 29. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) Recent Soccer Stories: • An Unlikely Star: Bo Oshoniyi • Soccer School

November 4— Just when the women's soccer world thought it was safe from high-scoring American forwards, here comes another one.

Mia Hamm may be retiring, but Abby Wambach is just arriving. Wambach has all the ingredients to become a superstar. She is talented, scores goals in bunches, and she is friendly and outspoken. She's a selfless teammate, humble enough to know her place on the team.

"I'm just kind of going through this journey," said Wambach. "I have a lot of years left in my career. If I can be fortunate as the women before me that played great soccer and won championships, I'll call myself lucky."

The 5-11, 161-pound Wambach already has an Olympic gold medal, heading in the game-winner in extra time against Brazil in the final.

She scored in four out of every five games, (42 international goals in 53 games entering Saturday's game against Denmark in Philadelphia), the best rate ever for a women's player in the world. Yes, even more than Mia (57.8 percent), who has a world-record 158 goals in 273 games.

"I read that the only reason I had that record was I played for 17 years," Mia said. "She won't need to play for 17 years to get that many goals. I'd love it if she broke it. Hopefully that means they are winning world championships and she gets an opportunity to win another Olympic gold medal. That would be great.

"She's a leader by example and by her words," Hamm added. "She has such a passion for the game and she has the ability to inspire others, including me."

Since winning the gold medal, Wambach's life has been a whirlwind, traveling across the nation on a 10-game tour.

"It still feels like a dream," said Wambach, after tying a team record by scoring five goals in the final 43 minutes of a match against Ireland on October 31.

Big Shoes to Fill

Like it or not, Wambach has become a celebrity. In her hometown of Rochester, New York, she can't go out without being recognized and signing autographs.

"I don't really view myself as this big-time celebrity person," she said. "I feel that I'm an average person and I just did an extraordinary thing in an extraordinary moment."

But in January, Hamm and captain Julie Foudy will have retired, and the U.S. women's team will be Wambach's team.

"The real test of this team is to see how it performs when these women are gone," said Wambach. "We'll see what kind of students we are."

"The challenge for me is to have a league, to have the WUSA (Women's United Soccer Association) to start up again and to keep it going so not only 20 women in the nation can play and get paid and make a good living, but 120 or 200 women can do it."

Michael Lewis, who covers soccer for the New York Daily News, writes about the sport for Scholastic.com.