That’s what fans are for!
Some of the world’s best female soccer players got a little help from their fans in Florida Saturday after the team bus broke down on the way back to the hotel after a public practice at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando.
Two-time gold medalist Abby Wambach, goalkeeper Hope Solo, midfielder Carli Lloyd and the rest of the US Women’s National Soccer Team simply piled off the bus and stuck their thumbs out on the side of a highway.
They didn’t wait long.
A long line of fans leaving the stadium had gotten stuck behind the bus, which stopped just a couple hundred yards away from the stadium, team spokesman Aaron Heifetz said.
Among them was 14-year-old soccer devotee Carley Painter of Kissimmee, Fla., who spent 30 minutes with her idols.
“My friend and I were joking around saying that we should just drive everyone home since we were in a big truck. And then we saw some players getting off the bus and I stuck my head out the window and yelled, ‘Need a ride?’ ” Painter told The Post via email. “Immediately, Hope and Abby and Carli came running down to the car and hopped in. I couldn’t believe it.”
During what should have been a 20-minute ride back to the hotel, Wambach pulled out her cell phone to get GPS directions. But she misread them, said Painter, so the journey took a glorious 30 minutes.
Carli Lloyd (from left), Hope Solo, Abby Wambach and a fan in the back seat of a car.
The players, who face Brazil at the Citrus Bowl on Sunday, took to Twitter to voice their appreciation for the assist.
“What happens when your bus breaks down? Just catch a ride from our dedicated fans!” Solo Tweeted on Saturday afternoon, including a picture of herself, Wambach and Lloyd in the back of Painter’s car.
Painter’s pal, 14-year-old Serrena Cardoso, was in the back, and when her soccer obsessed pals spied their friend on Hope Solo’s Twitter, her cell lit up with texts, Painter said.
Cardoso showed Wambach the messages, and Wambach – who in June surpassed Mia Hamm’s all-time scoring record – happily played along, taking a “selfie” with Cardoso for the girl to send to her friends.
When Cardoso’s phone began to ring, “Abby was nice enough to talk with them on the phone and then Hope and Carli did the same,” Painter gushed.
Forwards Sydney Leroux and Alex Morgan also hitched a ride with fans.
“Our bus broke down at the stadium. Option A: Hitchhike with fans. Option B: Wait. What do you think we did?,” Leroux tweeted.
Painter, a ninth-grader who plays soccer, wouldn’t have it any other way.
“They were all so nice and really funny,” she gushed. “When we got to their hotel, we all took a picture together and they thanked us once again for the ride. There were some fans waiting at the hotel and Abby said something like, ‘Sorry guys, we aren’t allowed to take pictures are sign autographs, but we can take a picture with these guys cause they are family.’ Then as we drove away I just screamed and said, ‘Oh my God!’ I couldn’t believe it.”
Painter, who called it “the best moment of my life really. So unreal,” exchanged several Tweets with the soccer stars.
But the cherry on top came afterward, when Wambach gave the girl the ultimate social media acknowledgement.
“Abby followed me. My life is complete… #dreambig,” Painter Tweeted.