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From Mia Hamm to Megan Rapinoe, the 11 most influential American female soccer players have made a lasting impact on the sport, on and off the field.

One reason the NWSL came into existence was to help build the women's game for tomorrow, not just entertain for today. With that in mind, here are five players to watch this season, players who look to boost their exposure.

The American women stumbled a bit in celebrating the 100th anniversary of the U.S. Soccer Federation.

It was all good just a year ago. 2012 was the first year in 13 that Olympique Lyonnais failed to qualify for the Champions League, missing out on the money and spotlight that European competition brings. In truth, the rot had already set in. Lyon has...

The year in sports, 2012, told in GIFs and riffs. The Little Giant Here's a video of Lionel Messi scoring 86 goals in the year of our Maradona, 2012, breaking Gerd Muller's record of 85 goals for club and country in a calendar year. It's ...

Stephen Curry struck a pose as his Golden State Warriors took down the Miami Heat on Wednesday night. Who else in sports was photogenic? Playbook's Daily Gallery: Thursday, Dec. 13...

Abby Wambach, Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe, as well as other U.S. women's soccer stars, need to exercise patience and sacrifice to help the new women's professional soccer league succeed.

In ESPN The Magazine, soccer star Megan Rapinoe chats with Lizzie Haldane about coming out, representing Team USA and the future for women's soccer.

lympic gold medal winners Abby Wambach, Alex Morgan, Carli Lloyd and Megan Rapinoe of the United States are among 10 candidates selected for the FIFA Women's World Player of the Year.

Arsenal's tiny ambition We are suckers for any article that references Oompa-Loompas, but here the Mirror offers the added value of some analysis. An examination of Arsenal's new tiny midfield lineup anchored by the 5-foot-5 Santi Cazorla makes them...

Football has returned, as if it ever really went away. In this week's pod, Michael and Roger welcome the return of the English Premier League like an old friend. A friend that always makes you pay for drinks, sleeps with your wife, and reverses its H...

London 2012 was a spectacularly social Olympics, with fans in attendance, fans overseas, athletes on site and individual nations and teams joining in. Naturally, Team USA -- and its prolific medal count -- was right there, sharing not only news bu...

Editor's note: Welcome to the first installment of "Teammates," an occasional Playbook series in which athletes share personal tidbits and anecdotes about their peers. The U.S. women's soccer team squares off against Japan in the gold-medal match ...

First, the good news: The U.S. is now leading China in the medal count, and it looks like a permanent margin. BOOM! U.S.: 81 Medals, 34 Golds China: 77 Medals, 36 Golds My man Daniel G., inventor of Saber-Medal-Trics — a system that uses...

The United States' 4-3 victory over Canada was an instant classic. We asked our writers to reflect on the match and predict what might be coming in the gold-medal match against Japan on Thursday.

The women's game, banned in Great Britain for 50 years, is catching up. Tuesday, for every Wayne Rooney jersey in the stands at Old Trafford, there was a Megan Rapinoe jersey. For every Alan Stubbs, a Hope Solo.