On Jan. 7, FIFA's annual Ballon d'Or gala honored Leo Messi, AbbyWambach, Pia Sundhage and Alex Morgan among others for their 2012 accomplishments in Zurich, Switzerland.
Messi won the FIFA Player of the Year for the fourth time after shattering the world record with 91 goals for Barcelona and Argentina in 2012.
Wambach, 2012 FIFA Women's World Player of the Year
Abby Wambach, co-captain of the U.S. Women's National Team (USWNT), was named 2012 FIFA Women's World Player of the Year, marking the third time an American woman won that honor, following Mia Hamm's awards in 2001 and 2002.
Brazil's Marta, who won the last five Women's Player of the Year Awards, was named the runner-up and USWNT's Alex Morgan won third place.
Wambach, who is on the verge of leveling Hamm on the world's all-time scoring list, currently has 152 career international goals in 198 caps, with 27 of those goals coming in 2012. Wambach scored a goal in the first five matches of the 2012 Olympics, a feat never before achieved, and was the only U.S. player to start all 32 games during the year. Wambach, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, has won five U.S. Soccer Female Athlete of the Year Awards (2003, 2004, 2007, 2010, 2011).
"Individual honors only happen if you have great teams and great people who have given you the chance to be here," said Wambach. Not only do I think Marta and Alex could have won, but many other players could have been here as well.
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."
Sundhage, 2012 World Coach of the Year for Women's Soccer
Pia Sundhage, who led the USA to the 2012 Olympic gold medal, was named 2012 World Coach of the Year for Women's Soccer. Sundhage becomes the first coach of a U.S. team to win the award, which was instituted in 2008. Japan's Norio Sasaki was the runner-up for this year's award and France's Bruno Bini was third.
Sundhage ended an outstanding five-year tenure at the helm of the U.S. team in September of 2012, finishing off her run that included two Olympic gold medals and a second-place finish at the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup. She finished her career as head coach of the USA with an 88-6-10 record, including 20-1-1 this year before she left to take the job as the head coach of the Sweden Women's National Team in her home country.
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