Julie Ertz has a world championship and Player of the Year honors in her sport. So she’s already got an edge on husband Zach – that is Quenton Nelson Color Rush Jersey , if they were competitive.

She says the athletic couple doesn’t really try to one-up each other all that much.

”Maybe in board games,” she says with a laugh.

Julie and Zach are currently the sporting world’s ”It” couple. Julie is a midfielder for the World Cup-winning U.S. national soccer team, while her husband Zach is a tight end for the Super Bowl-bound Philadelphia Eagles. The joke is that they both play football, just different kinds.

Just as Zach was in Canada for the 2015 World Cup final cheering on Julie, she’ll be rooting for him on Sunday in Minneapolis. In fact, she’s already there, acting as a correspondent for the U.S. team’s Twitter feed .

The couple was married last March after a romance that started when Julie, then Julie Johnston, was an emerging soccer star at Santa Clara and Zach was playing at Stanford.

Julie’s career took off in 2015, well before Zach reached the NFL’s biggest stage, when she was selected by national team coach Jill Ellis for the World Cup roster. At 23, she was the second-youngest player on the squad for soccer’s premier tournament.

”You train as if whenever you’re called upon you’re ready Bills Josh Allen Jersey ,” she said. ”I think that was a huge mentality that was important for me. I know I really wanted to make the team, but I knew that I had a long way to go. So I tried every day to take it day by day and really learn anything I could at practice, and do every extra thing that I thought I needed to do.”

Johnston played on a backline that included Meghan Klingenberg, Becky Sauerbrunn and Ali Krieger. The defense was anchored by Hope Solo, who was spectacular in goal. The group went 540 minutes during the tournament without conceding a goal on the way to a 5-2 final victory over Japan.

With her trademark baby-blue headband, Johnston quickly proved she was one of the sport’s fastest-rising stars. Today, she’s introspective about her world championship.

”I could give you 1,000 moments that were special, but looking back it was the journey, and everything that I learned about myself and what I didn’t think I could do,” she said. ”I learned a lot, and it really pushed my love for the sport even more than I already loved it.”

She shifted to a defensive midfielder position with the national team last year and did well. At the Tournament of Nations she came in as a substitute and scored the winner of a 4-3 victory in the 89th minute.

She played at that position the rest of the season Pat Valaika Colorado Rockies Jersey , scoring six goals, including two against New Zealand. In December she was selected the national team’s Player of the Year, earning more than half of all the votes.

But probably the happiest thing she did last year was marry Zach. The two tied the knot in March in California.

Zach, 27, is in his fifth season with the Eagles. He broke out this season with 824 receiving yards, behind only New England’s Rob Gronkowski (1,084) and Kansas City’s Travis Kelce (1,038) among the ends. His eight touchdowns were double his previous career high, and he had eight catches for 93 yards in the NFC championship game.

The two were apart when the Eagles clinched their spot in the Super Bowl with a 38-7 victory over the Minnesota Vikings. Julie was in San Diego for a national team match against Denmark. She was among the players who scored in the 5-1 victory.

Afterward, when she was told Zach was going to the Super Bowl, she burst into tears .

”Zach knew I was there obviously in spirit and I was praying for him and I was excited for him and cheering him from miles away,” she said. ”It’s a part of our job and we sacrifice a lot Will Hernandez Color Rush Jersey , and time’s the biggest thing. But to find out that they are going to the Super Bowl was amazing, exciting, emotional. It’s really cool to see your loved one’s hard work pay off.”

That’s part of the mutual respect their marriage is built on.

”She understands how hard I worked and how hard this team worked to get to this point. We’re each other’s No. 1 fan. Our relationship wasn’t built on the athletic success. We truly love each other and that’s the most important thing,” Zach said.

To that end, Julie said it’s Zach’s turn in the spotlight.

”This is his time,” she said. ”I’m here. I’m a fan! I’m going to be in the stands, cheering with everyone else.”

—

Andrew Knapp had too much fun to be tired after playing in what matched the longest nine-inning game in NL history.

Knapp and Odubel Herrera hit three-run homers, rookie Scott Kingery had a career-high four hits, and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 17-5 on Friday night for their fifth straight victory.

Herrera’s shot into the right-field stands in the third inning off Trevor Williams (6-7) pushed the Phillies’ lead to 5-1. Knapp’s blast to left capped a seven-run seventh, making it 14-4 and helping Philadelphia improve to 5-0 against the Pirates this season.

The game lasted 4 hours, 30 minutes, tying the NL record for a nine-inning game set on June 24 Cordy Glenn Color Rush Jersey , 2016, by the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies.

”Was it that long?” Knapp said. ”It didn’t seem like it.”

It felt like an eternity for Pittsburgh, which has given up 48 runs, 59 hits and 12 home runs during its four-game losing streak.

”It’s peaks and valleys. Right now, collectively, we’re in a valley,” Williams said.

Herrera finished with four RBIs and Carlos Santana drove in three runs. Cesar Hernandez and Rhys Hoskins had three of the Phillies’ 18 hits and Maikel Franco hit a two-run double in the second.

Kingery reached base five times.

Philadelphia (48-37) moved into a first-place tie with Atlanta in the NL East and is 11 games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 2011 season. The Phillies lost 96 games last year.

”We played Phillies-type of offense,” first-year manager Gabe Kapler said. ”We continue to see a lot of pitches, work a lot of counts, grind down the opposing pitchers. I really believe it’s a great way to win baseball games and our guys are starting to understand it and going along with it more and more.”

Edubray Ramos (3-0) retired both batters he faced in the fifth inning after being activated from the disabled list before the game.

Both starting pitchers were chased in the third inning. Nick Pivetta was charged with three runs – one earned – and Williams was tagged for five runs.

”I kind of set the tone for the record,” Pivetta said with a smile, ”but our guys did a good job of battling and overcoming it.”

Pivetta has made eight starts in a row without a victory Cassius Marsh Color Rush Jersey , though he got the win in relief Sunday against Washington. Williams has lost his last three starts, allowing 12 runs in 13 innings.

”I’m tired of getting my (behind) kicked,” Williams said.

The Phillies sent 11 batters to the plate in the seventh to take a 10-run lead. Hoskins and Herrera hit consecutive RBI singles and Santana doubled home two runs before Knapp connected against Josh Smoker.

Jesmuel Valentin belted a two-run double and scored on a double by Hoskins in the ninth.

Pittsburgh’s Colin Moran opened the scoring with an RBI single in the first.

ROSTER MOVES

Phillies: Ramos had been out since June 25 with a right shoulder impingement. Fellow RHP Jake Thompson was optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

Pirates: OF Jordan Luplow was recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis and RHP Clay Holmes was optioned to Class A Bradenton. Holmes was sent to the Florida State League to stay on a normal schedule because the Triple-A All-Star break is next week.

MARTE MILESTONE

Marte stole his 200th career base in the fourth inning and added two more steals in the sixth. He is the eighth Pirates player since 1900 to reach that milestone.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Phillies: RHP Vince Velasquez (bruised right forearm) will throw a bullpen Saturday and likely start Wednesday night against the Mets at New York. . RHP Jerad Eichkoff (right lat strain) felt tingling in his fingers during a live batting practice session Friday at the spring training complex in Clearwater, Florida. … INFs J.P. Crawford (broken left hand) and Pedro Florimon (broken right foot) will be examined by specialists next week.

Pirates: RHP Joe Musgrove (infected right index finger) is scheduled to throw a bullpen Saturday. . C Francisco Cervelli (concussion) is 1 for 5 with three walks through the first two games of his rehab assignment at Double-A Altoona. … INF/OF Sean Rodriguez (strained right quadriceps) is 5 for 20 with a double in five games with Indianapolis.

UP NEXT

Phillies: RHP Jake Arrieta (5-6, 3.54 ERA) is 0-4 with a 6.16 ERA in his last six starts.

Pirates: RHP Jameson Taillon (5-6, 4.05) is 3-6 with a 4.93 ERA in his last 14 starts after going 3-0 with a 0.89 ERA in his first three.
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