ZURICH -- Abby Wambach, co-captain of the United States Women's National Team, won the 2012 FIFA Women's World Player of the Year, and Pia Sundhage, who guided the U. S. to the 2012 Olympic gold medal, was named the 2012 World Coach of the Year for women's football at the FIFA Ballon d'Or Gala held on Monday at the Zurich Kongresshaus.

For men's football, Argentine Lionel Messi collected a record-breaking fourth consecutive title of best player in the world, while Spain National Team head coach Vicente del Bosque captured the FIFA World Coach of the Year.

"I'm very, very surprised," said Wambach, 32, who scored 27 goals in 2012. "Individual honors only happen if you have great teams and great people who have given you the chance to be here.

"Thanks to FIFA, thanks to U.S. Soccer and thanks to all the fans and my family for putting me in this position. I don't think of myself as the best player in the world, just a player who plays on the best team in the world."

The U.S. women gained a fourth Olympic gold medal, going a perfect 6-0-0 and defeating world champion Japan 2-1 in the final. Wambach netted a goal in the first five matches of the London Games, a feat never before achieved, and was the only U.S. player to start all 32 matches during the year. She also tallied six times in leading the Americans to the 2012 CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying tournament title.

This marks the third time an American woman has been named FIFA Women's World Player of the Year following Mia Hamm's selection in 2001 and 2002, the first two years the award was presented.

Sundhage becomes the first coach of a U.S. team to win the award, which was established in 2008. She concluded a brilliant five-year tenure with the CONCACAF power in September of 2012 after accumulating two Olympic gold medals and a second-place finish at the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup.

The Swede built a record of 88 wins, 10 draws and six losses, before leaving to take the reigns of the national team in her home country.

The awards were decided after a poll in which the captains and head coaches of the men's (for the two men's awards) and women's (for the two women's awards) national teams, as well as international media representatives selected by French football magazine France Football, voted for candidates in each of the four categories. Each group's votes represented one third of the final result.