LE HAVRE, France -- United States coach Jill Ellis and her players have heard variations of the same question again and again the past few weeks. Asked with varying degrees of diplomatic wording, the queries all revolved around a central tenet: Wouldn't it be better in the long run if the U.S. loses Thursday's Group F finale against Sweden and avoids any possibility of an early knockout encounter with France?
Ellis offered what has become a consistent refrain.
"I struggle to tell my team not to tackle each other in training the day before [games]," Ellis said.