Lionel Bonaventure/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
PARIS — Only in those fraught final few minutes Friday, as the Parc des Princes bayed and howled for blood, as France chased and charged and clawed for an opening, did the United States betray even the slightest flicker of nervousness.
Jill Ellis, the American coach, crept to the very edge of the sideline to berate Lindsey Horan for abandoning a defensive post to join a counterattack. Tobin Heath, her legs heavy with exhaustion, held the ball in the corner, holding off two French defenders, hungrily snapping at her heels, trying to while away a few precious seconds.