Lionesses penalty hero reveals when England stars learned about Lucy Bronze's broken tibia
England star Niamh Charles didn't lose faith for a second as the Lionesses beat Spain in the Euro 2025 final. Charles scored from the spot in a 3-1 shoot-out win after a 1-1 draw at St Jakob-Park in Basel. The full-back hasn't started a game in Switzerland but made two crucial contributions during the knockout stages.
She cleared an extra-time Lina Hurtig header off the line in the quarter-final victory over Sweden. And then the Chelsea defender beat Spanish keeper Cata Coll from 12 yards on Sunday.
'That's kind of been how we've experienced the whole tournament, 120 minutes - we were just saying we had that complete belief that however late it went, however long it went on it's just the belief in the squad that we always had a moment in us and always had that fighting spirit," Charles said. 'That's something we've referenced so much, that proper English.'
Charles said England's players were given a reminder of their best moments from the tournament, including that clearance against Sweden. 'When we were shown loads of things, everyone has had a moment or a part to play and that makes me so proud,' she said.
'From the staff to the players everyone has played their part and thoroughly deserves this.'
Charles replaced Lucy Bronze on Sunday, and it later emerged that experienced right-back Bronze has been playing the tournament with a broken tibia. 'It's something we've known about in camp but I think she's very good and she just gets on with it and no one really truly knows how much she's dealing with,' the substitute said.
'To play on that is pretty incredible but if there was anyone to do it it would have been her. [That's] proper proper English. Once we win we can talk about it but it's absolutely job done first, and she's a credit to that and an England legend.'
It's not just Charles who has been at ease even when England have found themselves against the ropes. Lionesses manager Sarina Wiegman has appeared remarkably calm throughout the journey, even when her team needed a last-gasp Michelle Agyemang equaliser to take their semi-final against Italy to extra-time.
'I am pretty calm during the games,' Wiegman said. 'This tournament every single game has challenged us.
'We took those on board and how the team recovered from some setbacks, again today we went behind, but how we come back and how we kept working together and so hard and also then win. That's the most important thing."
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Lionesses Bring It Home Again - Souvenir Edition
Sarina Wiegman's legends have made history and brought football home once more after defending their title and winning Euro 2025 in Switzerland. We have produced this special souvenir edition of the Women's Football News.
It is crammed with interviews with the Lionesses, special features, their match-by-match road to glory as well as dozens of amazing images. Click here to buy
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