US plays to 1-1 draw in final game for retiring coach Ellis
Megan Rapinoe will miss Jill Ellis running the US women’s national team.
“A lot, I think,” star forward Rapinoe said after the US tied South Korea 1-1 on Sunday in the final game for Ellis on the exhibition tour of the twotime Women’s World Cup champions. “It’s such an intimate environment in so many ways. You’re with these people more than anyone else, and in a very vulnerable way. Everyone’s doing it to reach this one goal, and everything’s stripped away.
“There’s no room for ego or personal achievements. Everyone has to be on board. Having all of that, it’s tough to lose someone. Jill, being the leader of our team, all she’s led us through, all the wins, the ups and downs, the different lineups and formations and doubts, and to accomplish our goal, it’s something really special.”
Ellis choked up speaking of her five-year run as coach, saying it got to her just before the team took the field before 33,027 fans at Soldier Field.
“When you get in the moment, you kind of push through, but when I was high-fiving the players on the way out onto the field I got kind of choked up,” Ellis said, barely finishing the sentence. “They’re a good group.”
Ellis, 53, picked up her American-record 106th win Thursday night against South Korea. She was honored before the game with a jersey signed by the team and 132 written on the back, signifying the number of games she coached in a career that began with two stints as interim coach in 2012 and 2014. Her two world coach of the year honors came in 2015 and this year following the back-to-back American victories in the Women’s World Cup.
“My legacy, that’s someone else’s narrative to write,” Ellis said. “It’s not about me writing my legacy or what I hope it to be. I’ve tried to always do his best Busquets imitation, thrilling the crowd with a fancy spin move to escape two defenders and keep possession.
Busquets came on as a substitute in the second half with the game wrapped up.
The 32-year-old Vidal joined Barcelona before last season from Bayern Munich. The Chile midfielder has won league titles with Bayern in Germany, with Juventus in Italy, and in Spain last season.
“I would have liked to play more games, but we have a lot of midfielders,” he said. “I am here to do my part, to be important, to help the team at every moment, and fortunately I was able to score today.”
Valverde also left Antoine Griezmann on the bench after he had started every game since joining Barcelona from Atlético Madrid last summer. Griezmann has scored three times but otherwise has seemed out of sync with his teammates for long stretches of games.
Ousmane Dembele took his place and scored before the break. He was later sent off with a direct red after saying the referee was “very bad.” That means Griezmann give everything I have to this job and with passion. I feel good about that. “The best part of this job is building relationships. I’m not going to remember games so much as I’m going to remember all these people who helped me get where I am.”
Captain Carli Lloyd scored in the 37th minute
Valencia says it has contacted police to report death threats received by club president Anil Murthy via his mobile phone.
Valencia’s fans have been angry at the club and owner Peter Lim for firing successful coach Marcelino García Toral last month due to a disagreement over the lack of signings in the offseason.
Many fans attending Valencia’s 2-1 win over Alavés on Saturday loudly jeered Lim and Murthy.
Murthy replied by holding a finger up to his lips and pointing to the field. and saw a potential winning goal ruled offside in the 93rd minute to climax a furious final stage.
“It would have been nice to send Jill out with another win,” Lloyd said. “It’s been a long, tough year for everybody but those last few minutes were exciting. We’ve won a ton with her.”