Richard Heathcote/Getty Images
LYON, France — It was late Sunday night, moments after the United States women’s soccer team had clinched its second consecutive World Cup title, and Coach Jill Ellis was trying to articulate how Megan Rapinoe, her star left wing, had taken the monthlong tournament and made it her personal performance stage.
“Megan was built for this,” Ellis said, shaking her head while sitting inside a news conference room at the Stade de Lyon, “built for these moments, built to be a spokeswoman for others.”
Rapinoe was meant to be sitting beside her coach, but she was running late after being randomly selected for a postgame doping test.