PARIS — If the notion still lingered, five days after its record-setting rout to open the Women’s World Cup, that the defending champion U.S. national team should consider the feelings of its opponents, tamp down its high-octane offense and behave a bit more graciously while in France, it wasn’t shared by the wild partisans who jammed into Parc des Princes on Sunday evening.
Chanting “U.S.A.! U.S.A.!” and decked out in red, white and blue, the throng of 45,594 bellowed its pride in team and country in high-decibel fashion. And when the U.S. players trotted onto the pitch for pregame ceremonies before facing 39th-ranked Chile, the crowd showered the Americans with cheers.