Canada never really had a chance. When you're playing Abby Wambach, it seems like you hardly ever do.

The 5-foot-11 forward is a highlight-reel machine. In the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team's game against the Canucks on Thursday, she took over the second half in her typical mind-blowing fashion.

The first goal: a one-touch strike that sent her tumbling and launched a 20-yard rocket into the far corner of the net. No one was getting to it — no one could react that quickly.

The second goal: Wambach catapuled herself off the ground with perfect time, meeting a pass at just the right angle to knock a header in past Canada's overwhelmed goalkeeper.

Alex Morgan capped the match with another goal to give the U.S. a 3-0 win, but Wambach was still the star of the game. How could she not be?

It's difficult for me to hide my appreciation for the 31-year-old captain of the Yanks. Having her on the national team is akin to bringing brass knuckles to a fistfight. In every game I've ever seen her in, she's bigger, faster and tougher than just about anyone on the field.

As a child, she was so dominant among her peers that she had to play with boys instead of girls. This is a woman who I wish, at times, could sneak on the U.S. men's team now. Lord knows they could use her.

Wambach plays almost out of control, throwing her body up in the air seemingly with little regard for how she's going to land. You don't score on four headers in the 2011 World Cup by playing just with finesse.

I'll be the first to admit frustration with the way the United States finished out the World Cup this summer. If you ask me, most of the team choked. It was gut-wrenching to watch three penalty kicks in a row get stopped or miss the goal completely — an utter letdown.

Wambach stepped up for the fourth penalty kick — it would be the Yanks' last — and nailed it. Of course. No surprise there. Just Abby being Abby.

In the heyday of Mia Hamm, she was not just a soccer star — she was a cultural idol. She appeared in commercials alongside Michael Jordan. She was a media darling, marketable and likeable.

Maybe Hope Solo has taken on that more visible role for the U.S. Soccer team, being easy on the eyes as well as one of the best goalkeepers in the world.

But if Solo is the team's face, Wambach is its heart. She plays with toughness and an extraordinary form of reckless abandon. As we witnessed as the clock was ticking down against Brazil, she responds to pressure with plays that leave us gaping, wondering if we really just saw what we think we saw.

With 125 international goals, it's reasonable to believe that Wambach could one day surpass Hamm's U.S. record of 158. From what I've seen, and what the nation has seen, there's no reason Wambach can't take her place among the sport's legends.

But hopefully she doesn't step away too soon. We'll need a goal-scorer for the World Cup in 2015, and Wambach's noggin seems like the best tool for the job.

kgoon@sltrib.com Twitter: @kylegoon