U.S. soccer star Wambach out with broken leg

U.S. soccer star Wambach out with broken leg

The United States Olympic women's soccer team suffered a major blow Wednesday night when leading scorer Abby Wambach broke her left leg during a 1-0 friendly win over Brazil.

Wambach was carted off the field after a violent collision in the first half of the match in San Diego. She fractured both her tibia and fibula. She will have surgery Thursday to insert a titanium rod in the leg.

The injury is expected to keep the 28-year-old forward out of action for 12 weeks. That rules her out of the 2008 Beijing Games, which start in three weeks.

"I want to thank all the fans, the doctors, the players on the team and Tasha Kai for scoring the winning goal," Wambach said from the emergency room. "Obviously, it's devastating, but above everything else, I'm only one player, and you can never win a championship with just one player. I have the utmost confidence in this team bringing home the gold."

Wambach leads the U.S. squad this year with 13 goals and 10 assists. The Rochester, N.Y., native has topped the team in scoring in the last three major championships, including the 2007 women's World Cup in China, where she netted six goals in six games as the U.S. finished third.

Wambach — one of the top scorers in U.S. history with 99 goals in 127 games — needs one more goal to become just the ninth female player to reach 100 and the fifth American.

Wambach went down hard after a collision with Brazilian defender Andreia Rosa, and began signaling the sideline almost immediately for help. Wambach appeared to be in considerable pain as paramedics fit her with an inflatable brace before carting her off the field after six minutes.

"I was very emotional," U.S. captain Lindsay Tarpley said of seeing Wambach taken off the field. "She is one of my best friends." Rosa got up after a minute and continued in the game, which the Americans won on Kai's goal off a header in the 84th minute to raise their 2008 record to 21-0-1 and their home unbeaten streak to 31.

The U.S. team begins Olympic play on Aug. 6 against Norway.