photo by Michael Chow/USA Today Sports
By FRANCO PANIZO
The U.S. Women’s National Team may still be reveling in the glory of winning a World Cup, but plans for the future are already being laid out.
U.S. Soccer announced on Wednesday morning that Ellis has signed a contract extension to remain in charge of the women’s program. There is no word as to exactly how long Ellis’ new deal is for, but U.S. Soccer labeled it a “multi-year” deal.
“When we hired Jill, we all knew the great challenge that was ahead of her and the team,” said U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati in a prepared statement. “She met that challenge with tremendous passion and knowledge to win what was perhaps the most difficult Women’s World Cup tournament in history.
“As we look towards the Rio Olympics and build towards the 2019 World Cup in France, we think Jill is the ideal person to lead the next generation of the Women’s National Team.”
The 48-year-old Ellis helped the U.S. win a third World Cup this summer, defeating Japan, 5-2, in a memorable tournament final last month. Ellis had been criticized throughout the tournament for a string of subpar performances from the team, but the Americans got progressively better throughout the World Cup before hoisting the trophy.
Ellis took over as U.S. head coach back in May 2014. She has compiled an overall record of 29-2-9, but that also includes results from two separate stints as U.S. interim head coach in 2012 and 2014.
“I sincerely appreciate the opportunity to continue to work with these great players with the tremendous resources that U.S. Soccer dedicates to the women’s game,” said Ellis in the same statement. “We had a really exciting year, and we are looking forward to more exciting times ahead.”
Ellis is currently focusing on the Americans’ 10-game World Cup victory tour, which begins later this month with a friendly against Costa Rica. After the competition of the tour, she will begin to prepare for CONCACAF Olympic qualifying ahead of next summer’s tournament in Brazil.
“We are going to have some turnover on the national team as we look towards the Olympics and the next Women’s World Cup in France, but that’s always part of the natural evolution,” said Ellis. “It will be the job of the players and staff to keep up the world-class level of effort and intensity to meet the high expectations of this program. It’s a challenge we are all looking forward to.”
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What do you think about Ellis signing a contract extension? Is it a good move by U.S. Soccer? How do you see the Americans doing in their victory tour and in Olympic qualifying?
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