Football
ESPN staff 8y

USMNT's Alejandro Bedoya and Jozy Altidore critical of Abby Wambach DUI

United States men's national team players Alejandro Bedoya and Jozy Altidore made jokes at the expense of Abby Wambach following the former U.S. women's star's DUI arrest on Sunday.

Wambach, the world's leading international goal scorer among both men and women, was arrested early Sunday morning in Portland, Oregon, and charged with misdemeanor driving under the influence of intoxicants.

Upon her retirement in December, Wambach had criticized U.S. men's coach Jurgen Klinsmann for bringing in "a bunch of these foreign guys" on a Bill Simmons podcast.

Referring to that interview, Bedoya tweeted that Wambach's arrest "must've been a foreign American player's fault."

Altidore then replied to Bedoya's tweet, writing that Wambach "should've used one of the team vans," apparently in reference to U.S. women's team goalkeeper Hope Solo's suspension following her husband's DUI arrest in January 2015.

TMZ reported at the time that Jerramy Stevens, a former NFL player, was driving a U.S. Soccer team van at the time of his arrest.

Wambach's comments on dual nationals drew rebukes from men's players like Mix Diskerud, who was raised in Norway. He said in December that Wambach was trying to "disenfranchise" U.S. players who were not raised in the United States.

Bedoya continued to post tweets defending his original statement into Monday, and called Wambach's original remarks "xenophobic."

Bedoya also brought up former U.S. striker Charlie Davies, whose international career ended after he was injured in a car crash involving a drunken driver in 2009.

Klinsmann has been credited with playing a significant role in recruiting talented dual nationals to play for the U.S., though his team has enjoyed less success than the women's squad, which won its third World Cup last July.

Bedoya and Altidore were both born in New Jersey and raised in the U.S. by parents originally from other countries.

The situation is just the latest in a series of issues between U.S. women's and men's players. On Thursday, five U.S women's national team players announced that they had filed an action with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) accusing the U.S. Soccer Federation of wage discrimination.

Former U.S. men's star Landon Donovan said the women deserved to be treated fairly but warned their contracts should be collectively bargained, writing "I'm not for equal pay, I'm for fair pay."

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