The shy girl from England who became the US soccer team's record-breaking head coach
Lyon, France A few hours before Sunday's Women's World Cup final, John Ellis will seat himself at his organ and play "You'll Never Walk Alone," Liverpool Football Club's stirring anthem. A Royal Marine commando who became a football coach, the 80-year-old is no vocalist, but nevertheless he will warmly sing the words and glance at a framed photograph of his daughter, Jill. It is a ritual the Englishman goes through every time the United States plays.
Follow @cnnsport The picture John Ellis has above his organ is one taken during a jubilant time for the family and its adopted country, when Jill guided the United States to World Cup victory in 2015. There may be another photo to be put above the instrument Jill bought her father some years ago when he decided to learn to play because the USWNT head coach is a match away from retaining the title and making history.
The American Outlaws: Team USA's super support 02:32"I could tell she had this spirit," he says,"this drive to win. That's when I first saw it in her, on the running track. She was a little girl and I never tried to develop it. I've never tried to develop her. These things just came together."An invitation for John Ellis to coach Annandale Boys Club in Virginia resulted in the family moving to America in 1981, which proved to be Jill's soccer awakening.
Remembering the 1999 Women's World Cup 04:01"She was great at getting the most out of players," he tells CNN Sport. "Pushing them past boundaries that I did not think players could possibly be pushed beyond. Sometimes you push a kid too hard, but plenty of times you get it right and you get a player to realize they can do more than they think they can do.
Women's World Cup: Alex Morgan 1-On-1 02:36"Jill's track record is terrific so a penalty loss in the quarterfinals of the Olympics doesn't mean anything is going wrong," says Gulati, now a member of the FIFA Council. "You lose a couple of games, players are unhappy, those things are all part of the process and I've had confidence in Jill throughout and, frankly, she's completely justified that confidence that US Soccer has had in her.
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