After Abby Wambach Charged with DUI, Men’s Players Pile On

Abby Wambach had a rough weekend.

After police in Portland, Oregon, charged her with driving under the influence Saturday night, the leading scorer in international play heard the boo birds on Sunday morning. And the sharpest jeers came not from fans but from her fellow competitors on the field.

Alejandro Bedoya, a player for the U.S. men’s team, quipped that the incident “must have been a foreign American player’s fault” in reference to Wambach’s criticism of players born outside of the U.S. competing on the American team. Jozy Altidore joked that she should have used a team van instead of her Range Rover, obliquely pointing to an 2015 incident in which Hope Solo’s husband was arrested for driving under the influence with his goalie wife as a passenger in a U.S. Soccer vehicle. Wambach’s friends and fans in the Twitterverse reacted angrily to the cheap shots.

Boo fuckin hoo. It’s a joke on Twitter. A DUI isn’t! Might recall my best friend Charlie Davies almost died from one https://t.co/6AAFsDa2Ik

— Alejandro Bedoya (@AleBedoya17) April 3, 2016

So, what I’m learning now via Twitter is that some people value athletic achievement more than human life…. Got that.

— Alejandro Bedoya (@AleBedoya17) April 3, 2016

@JozyAltidore @AleBedoya17 both of you can go fuck yourselves. What success in soccer have you had compared to her? Oh yeah… ZERO ☕️

— Makenna Rembert (@mrembert01) April 3, 2016

And if you can dish out criticism, like make xenophobic comments, than I’m sure you can take criticism also when you mess up.

— Alejandro Bedoya (@AleBedoya17) April 3, 2016

Wambach took responsibility for Saturday night’s poor decision, as so many do, on Sunday morning.

Last night I was arrested for DUII in Portland after dinner at a friend’s house.

Those that know me, know that I have always demanded excellence from myself. I have let myself and others down.

I take full responsibility for my actions. This is all on me. I promise that I will do whatever it takes to ensure that my horrible mistake is never repeated.

I am so sorry to my family, friends, fans and those that look to follow a better example.

Wambach retired in December after earning two Olympic gold medals, winning a World Cup, and scoring 184 goals in international play. More recently, she has filed suit against U.S. Soccer, demanding equity in pay for male and female players.