Chidozie Awaziem set for Nantes return
Awaziem came through the FC Porto academy but failed to establish himself in the first team, making just 15 appearances for the Portuguese side. During his time at Porto, he was loaned to Nantes for the 2017–18 season, where he made 23 appearances for Les Canaris. Further loan spells followed in Turkey (Çaykur Rizespor) and Spain (CD Leganés), before he moved permanently to Boavista F.C. in September 2020.
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After just one season at the Portuguese club, Awaziem went out on loan again – first to Alanyaspor in September 2021, then to Hajduk Split for the 2022–23 campaign. He returned to Boavista for the 2023–24 season, followed by short stints with FC Cincinnati and Colorado Rapids in the MLS.
Having yet to settle permanently at any club in his career, Awaziem will be hoping to make a more permanent home at the Stade de la Beaujoire.
GFFN | Ed Marsh
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Lucy Bronze and Jordan Nobbs were the babies of the England team at the 2013 European Championship in Sweden. They barely spoke to older players such as Casey Stoney, and when Nike sent them boots that were slightly too small, they did not dare ask for a bigger size. They spent the whole tournament wearing ones that did not fit. Looking back to those days before Euro 2022, Bronze laughed at how much things have changed: 'Now, we have the Nike guy measure our feet, so the boots fit like a glove. At that first Euros it was: 'You get what you're given, girls, and you crack on!' — and we did!' Twelve years on, at age 33, the defender still applies that get-your-head-down attitude — but does so with a deeper sense of responsibility. After England's poor showing at those Euros, their then No 9 Kelly Smith told Nobbs and Bronze: 'You are the future. Make sure this never happens again. Look after this team.' The warrior-like Bronze was a mental and physical monster against Sweden in the quarter-finals last week, dragging England over the line. Call for a physio? She'll strap up her own sore leg. Need a goal to get you back in a knockout game you're losing 2-0, as defending champions, with 12 minutes left? She'll make the lung-busting run to the far post. Need a clearance? She'll put her head where it hurts. Need a shootout penalty-taker? She'll blast hers into the back of the net. Even England head coach Sarina Wiegman, who rarely speaks about individuals, described her as 'one of a kind'. 'I have never, ever, ever seen this before in my life,' she said. For Wiegman, the goal and penalty do not define Bronze; her 'resilience' and 'fight' do, marvelling: 'I think the only way to get her off the pitch is in a wheelchair!' England team-mate Esme Morgan joked on Instagram that the note she brought on when England were 2-0 down against Sweden read: 'Save us GOAT (greatest of all time)' and tagged Bronze. 'She's a freak,' said Morgan. 'She has so much passion, energy, fight, and she infects everyone with it. She's hilarious but just brilliant, and we all love her.' If she starts as expected against Italy in the semi-finals on Tuesday, Bronze, playing in her seventh major tournament, will draw level with Jill Scott as the England player with the most major tournament appearances (35). Bronze knows what it's like to be a squad player. At that European Championship in 2013, she didn't play a single minute. In their must-win final group game, France went 2–0 up in the 62nd minute, and England's then manager Hope Powell told her to get ready. But then the French scored a third two minutes later and Powell changed her mind, shouting, 'Lucy, sit down!' In the past, she was seen as impatient. Speaking to the BBC about her autism and ADHD, Bronze explained her mind runs at 100mph and that she is often mentally 10 steps ahead of others. In meetings, she tried to help by offering solutions immediately, but team-mates saw it as not letting others speak. She grew frustrated when others could not process multiple pieces of information at once. Bronze never stops. She loves training and testing herself daily against England's best attackers, especially 19-year-old Michelle Agyemang: 'I can just run into her dead hard!' Some may wonder, after 18 years of senior football, a Euros trophy, a World Cup final and five Champions League titles, why and how she keeps going. In an age when women's players can earn more from their commercial ventures than their club salary, Bronze wanted to tell her team-mates how much representing her country still means to her. 'I will give everything when I play in an England shirt,' she said. 'I wanted all the girls to know that's my why. I just love playing for England so much.' Team-mates have felt the heat from the flames of that burning passion on and off the pitch. An activist, Bronze is articulate when speaking out about the congested playing schedule, allegations of abuse in America's National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) or racist abuse suffered by her team-mates. With fellow England defender Jess Carter announcing at the weekend she has stepped away from social media after being on the receiving end of the latter during Euro 2025, Bronze strongly condemned the situation at the pre-match press conference before England's semi-final tomorrow. 'We love connecting with our fans, social media is a great way to do that, but we don't need it. I think that's something that the platforms should be very aware of; nobody needs social media if you want to carry on in sport,' Bronze said. 'It is sad that players are missing out on so many of these great messages. It is sad that players are having to choose between this rollercoaster that social media sends us on. 'There are small changes — you see people being held accountable, you do see bans happening — it's just not enough. Not enough is being done. If you look back 100 years to 50 years to 20 years to 10 years, there's always small steps forward, but that's the problem. It's always a small step. We don't want it to be small steps anymore.' Such tenacity comes at a cost. By the age of 18, Bronze had already suffered four knee injuries which required surgery. In August 2021, she missed the first half of the season with Manchester City after she had another operation on her right knee to remove the fabella, a small bone at the rear of that joint. Bronze spent many dark days going through rehab with Chloe Kelly — who was recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) knee injury — sweating in the gym, on the stationary bike, almost in tears. The pain still lingered as she helped hosts England win the Euros almost a year later. 'I've just got to play through it,' the 2020 FIFA Best player of the year said at the time. 'There are plenty of players who are having to play through pain in their career and I'm now one of them. 'Everyone keeps saying that (that she doesn't look like she is struggling) but I don't feel like I did a couple of years ago. The Lucy Bronze of a couple of years ago was 'the best player in the world'.' Bronze, then 30, was coveted by the biggest club teams in the world, including Barcelona, who came calling that same summer. She won seven trophies in her two seasons with the Catalan giants, including both Champions League titles. Barca were aware of her knee problems and adapted her training accordingly but Bronze still struggled with the matchday workload. 'Physically, it's crazy, it's too much,' Bronze said last year, following the expiry of her contract. 'As a Barcelona player, I didn't think I could keep going at that level, play that number of games every year and all the travel.' For all of Bronze's heroics, however, teams, including France and Sweden in this competition, have exploited the spaces she vacates when she pushes up and cannot keep pace with her direct opponent. In the 2023 World Cup final against Spain, she roamed into the middle of the pitch, only to lose possession and allow Olga Carmona to punish England with the game's only goal. A similar situation occurred when Barcelona conceded against Wolfsburg in the 2024 Champions League final. Bronze's physical attributes going forward and mental fortitude are huge assets but teams are able to target her weaknesses. It is easy to fall into the trap of praising someone who will constantly push themselves to the limits, but doing so often has long-term consequences, mentally and physically for that athlete. Bronze has learnt to listen to her body more and work smarter, not harder. In September 2024, she returned to English football, signing for Women's Super League champions Chelsea, reasoning that fewer games than were on the schedule at Barcelona would give her more time to recover (the Catalans played 49 times in all competitions last season to Chelsea's 40). Over the past few years, Bronze has taken her recovery even more seriously, from sleep to nutrition, home-installed ice baths to saunas, red-light therapy to supplements, stretching and mobility to compression boots. 'I want to make sure from the word 'go' to the very end of the summer next year (Euro 2025) I'm in a good place,' she said. Towards the end of the season, Bronze contacted strength and conditioning coach Nathan Palmer, cousin of England and Chelsea player Cole Palmer, to make sure she was in the best possible shape. The pair highlighted her acceleration and deceleration, core strength and power. The aim was for Bronze to produce force at a high rate and then be able to stop and change direction quickly. 'Her power and output is just crazy,' Palmer tells The Athletic. 'She's so strong, probably one of the most powerful athletes, men's or women's, I've worked with.' The aim in their one- to two-hour weekly sessions was to keep things ticking over. Bronze would comfortably box squat 150kg (30lb) and hip thrust over 200kg. When completing exercises, Palmer would ask her to rate her fatigue level from one to 10, with 10 meaning she felt unable to perform any more repetitions. Bronze consistently said eight or nine — always room for more. 'She would push to go as heavy as she can, whereas some people might just say a 10 when actually it was a seven,' says Palmer. Palmer believes 'hard work, dedication and compounding strength over time' is why Bronze is so strong. She has always known her right knee is slightly weaker than the left and those injuries at a young age made her realise the importance of maintaining strength. 'She's just so driven,' says Palmer. 'It's a credit to her that she's been able to carry on for so long.' You can't buy experience, and that makes Bronze invaluable. A cheeky character, she is among the few in this Lionesses squad who challenges head coach Wiegman. 'They (other England players) don't like to embarrass Sarina,' Bronze told the BBC. 'I love it.' The morning after they won Euro 2022, it was Bronze who tried to give Wiegman a beer before she started their team meeting. 'Please don't, Lucy!' the Dutchwoman said. On a more serious note, Bronze was the one who told Wiegman to change the penalty order at the Finalissima penalty shootout win against South American champions Brazil in 2023, bumping up Kelly, who scored the decisive spot kick, while after the 2-1 defeat by France at these Euros — their first loss in an opening group-stage fixture at a major tournament for a decade — it was Bronze who rallied the team. She drew on her experience from the 2015 World Cup, when England also lost to France in the group but went on to reach the semi-finals and finish third. The 2019 World Cup, where England lost to eventual champions the United States in the semi-finals, taught her that even at your best, things can go wrong. 'It's why I'm a lot calmer now,' she said. 'I've been at the very top and still been knocked down.' After the giddiness of Thursday's shootout win against Sweden, such levelheadedness, especially as an example to more junior team-mates, is key. But Bronze feeds off their energy too. She stays young and fun by indulging in the wide-eyed excitement of the squad's tournament debutants — a tip she took from England's most-capped player, Fara Williams, over a decade ago. In Bronze's early England days, then Arsenal right-back Alex Scott was ahead of her in the pecking order for selection. They pushed each other, raising their respective performance levels, until Scott retired from international football in 2017, knowing their position was in good hands. 'As I have got older, I just do not want any of these young players to overtake me,' she told UK broadcaster Sky Sports last year, citing Cristiano Ronaldo, still playing at top-flight club level in Saudi Arabia and for Portugal's national team having turned 40 in February, as someone in the game who has looked after their body. For all the reasons above, Bronze remains undroppable under Wiegman, particularly as there is also a lack of competitive options at right-back. Wiegman firmly sees Manchester United captain Maya Le Tissier as the backup there for this tournament, though she plays centre-back at club level. Bronze, who has become a role model for Le Tissier, believes the 23-year-old has 'one of the biggest futures ahead of her'. 'She is a great person; as a player, I love her so much,' Bronze has said. 'I can see why Sarina plays her at right-back. All the things I love doing, Maya has those attributes. She loves defending, is strong, fast and fit. It's good for her development to learn two positions.' After that European Championship triumph, Bronze was offended anyone would question whether she would be with England at the following year's World Cup. 'I'm only 30,' she said. 'B****y hell! How many players retire at 30?'. Bronze said, in an interview with Women's Health, that female athletes' age, looks and biological clock are noted more than those of male athletes. 'I quite enjoy the idea of, 'Oh well, I'll prove them wrong',' she said. 'I don't think there's going to be another Lucy Bronze any time soon,' England goalkeeper Hannah Hampton said on the Lionesses podcast. And she is right. Bronze is unique, and in Morgan's words, a 'freak' of the best kind. This article originally appeared in The Athletic. Chelsea, England, Women's Soccer, Women's Euros 2025 The Athletic Media Company
