Lucy Bronze played through pain of fractured tibia to secure Euro 2025 glory
The 33-year-old full-back from Berwick-upon-Tweed in Northumberland had played almost every minute of the tournament, until she succumbed to a separate knee injury at half-time of extra time during Sunday's final in Basel.
Speaking after their quarter-final penalty shootout triumph over Sweden, when Bronze scored a crucial spot-kick, England boss Sarina Wiegman said of the defender: 'I think the only way to get her off the pitch is in the wheelchair.'
Bronze, now a two-time European champion with the Lionesses, opened up about her injuries following their 3-1 penalty shootout win over Spain.
In an interview with the BBC after the match, she said: 'We never lost belief in ourselves. There was a lot of noise on the outside, but we just stuck together and dug deep.
'I've actually played the whole tournament with a fractured tibia, but no one knew. And now I've hurt my knee on the other leg.
'I think that is why I got a lot of praise from the girls after the Sweden game, because I'm in a lot of pain, but that's what it takes to play for England and that's what I will do. They know that and we inspire each other by playing through things like that, and it got us to the end in the end.'
Asked about Bronze, who was piggybacked to the England supporters' section on the back of a team-mate, Wiegman said: 'Yeah, she had some issues with her tibia.
'Of course, we tried to manage that, but when you play 120 minute,s you're not managing that, are you?
'Lucy Bronze's mentality is, I think the whole team has an incredible mentality, but she has a crazy mentality. It's unbelievable.'
Meanwhile, the National Autistic Society congratulated their ambassador Lucy Bronze on the Lionesses' victory, adding: 'We hope she has inspired the next generation of autistic girls to follow their dreams.'
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