Abby Wambach wins FIFA year end honors

Abby Wambach won the FIFA Women's Ballon d'Or this morning along with the Men's winner Lionel Messi. Abby became the first American Woman to win the award since MIA Hamm won it 11 years ago. Abby's 2012 season with the USWNT included a Olympic Gold Medal, scoring 27 goals, and inching closer to the all time record help by MIA Hamm (158) with a total of 152 career goals.

Here is an excerpt from MLS's write-up on the award:

US women's national team star Abby Wambach was named FIFA Women's Player of the Year on Monday, beating out US teammate Alex Morgan and five-time winner Marta of Brazil to become the second American woman ever to win the honor. Hamm took the award in 2001 and '02.

"I'm very, very surprised," Wambach said. "Individual honors only happen if you have great teams and great people who have given you the chance to be here. Not only do I think Marta and Alex could have won, but many other players could have been here as well. Thanks to FIFA, thanks to US Soccer and thanks to all the fans and my family for putting me in this position. I don't think of myself as the best player in the world, just a player who plays on the best team in the world."

Wambach finished first in voting by coaches and captains of women's national teams from around the world. Each ballot allowed the coaches and captains to name their top three players, with a first-place nomination worth five points, and positions two and three rewarded with three points and one point, respectively.

Now all I want is for her to be announced as the first Thorns player.