SAN ANTONIO (AP) — For Abby Wambach, marrying partner and professional teammate Sarah Huffman was purely a statement of love, not politics.

Yet the star of the U.S. women’s national soccer team understands that as soon as news broke of their Oct. 5 ceremony, she became perhaps the highest-profile athlete in the debate over same-sex marriage. Wambach and the national team play Australia on Sunday in San Antonio. Wambach and Huffman are teammates on the Western New York Flash in the National Women’s Soccer League.