Now that the Washington Freedom have begun training camp, there is one question on everyone’s mind:  how is Abby Wambach doing on her surgically repaired left leg?

“She’s been the Abby of old, very competitive but always smiling and enjoying the training,” reported head coach Jim Gabarra as week one wound down.  “That’s great to see.  I think Abby still has a little ways to go but she has participated in everything.”

Gabarra is banking on Wambach returning to the form that led the first incarnation of the Freedom to the 2003 WUSA championship and then anchored the frontline for the U.S. National Team.  But she is not the only high profile player who came to camp in the final stages of rehabilitation from a serious injury.  Central defender Cat Whitehill tore her left ACL in training last June and has not played since.

“I couldn’t be happier from what we’ve seen from Abby and Cat coming back from injuries,” Gabarra said.  “They have looked really good in training.”

The Freedom have a shorter camp then most since they must travel to California to play the Los Angeles Sol in the WPS Inaugural Match on March 29.  Still the coach said he would be shocked if Wambach and Whitehill were not both in the lineup for the season opener.

As for who else will be in the Freedom’s first WPS lineup, much of that will hinge on how quickly the club’s contingent of international players are able to make their way to the nation’s capital.  As of Thursday, Australian forward Lisa De Vanna was in Washington visiting with the team but had yet to sign a contract.  While signed to contracts, Japanese midfielder Homare Sawa and French defender Sonia Bompastor have yet to enter the country due to visa issues.  Canadian Goalkeeper Erin McLeod is likewise in visa limbo and has yet to sign with the club.  Seeking to fill its last international slot, the Freedom continue to speak with Norway’s Lene Mykjaland and France’s Louisa Necib about joining the team on loan.

“The process has just taken as long as it can possibly be taking,” Gabarra said.

Sawa in particular could be held up until the middle of March, leaving her precious little time to find a rhythm with her new mates.

McLeod is yet another member of the surgical rehab crew.  The Canadian goalkeeper has been cleared for full training after an ACL tear last summer and has been working out on her own trying to keep up with the rest of the Freedom.  McLeod’s competition in goal will come from 37-year-old Briana Scurry, the starter for the U.S. National Team at the 2004 Olympics.

“She’s made her saves and done reasonably well with her distribution skills,” Gabarra said, adding that the tight quarters of the Freedom’s indoor practice facility have made definitive evaluation difficult so far.

Fortunately, more than half of the final roster is expected to be made up of players who played for Gabarra’s Freedom in the W-League.

“The big thing is I think we’ll have an advantage at the start,” said midfielder Sarah Huffman, a two-year Freedom veteran who will battle with Sawa and first round pick Allie Long for the right to feed balls up to Wambach.  “A lot of us know each other.  We know the style.  Hopefully that advantage will stay with us, but at the beginning I just think we’re going to know each other better than some other teams.”

Among those with Freedom experience besides Huffman and Wambach (who never played for the W-League side), central defender Becky Sauerbrunn and right back Alex Singer are favorites to be starting along the backline next to Whitehill and Bompastor.  Emily Janss, Joanna Lohman, Rebecca Moros, Christen Karninski, Lori Lindsey and Kati Jo Spisak have also played for Gabarra’s Freedom at one time or another.

To that end, expect the Freedom to line up in a standard 4-4-2 which will focus on possession but encourage individual flair when appropriate.  Wambach will be the main target but will also set the tone defensively with her tireless work ethic in all areas of the pitch.

“Jim likes to stress individual creativity,” Huffman said.  “If that’s the option and it’s on, he likes to see individual flair.  But he definitely likes the possession-oriented style.”

“That’s how we’ve played for the last few years,” Gabarra said.  “In a start-up situation I think it makes sense for us to plug in some pieces, even the major pieces as they are, that were selected because they can fit into the way we play.”

Gabarra said that 15 of his final 18 slots are already locked in leaving only three up for grabs plus four optional developmental slots, one of which is likely to go to goalkeeper Kati Jo Spisak.  Joy Shaeilby has also been brought into camp to battle for a ‘keeper spot.  Gabarra will likely decide on his roster by next week even though final rosters are not required until March 24 due to the “short cycle getting ready for our first game.”

Dan Lauletta is a freelance writer and can be reached at thirtymtp@aol.com. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author's, and not necessarily those of Women’s Professional Soccer or womensprosoccer.com.