Lucy Bronze's iconic moment saves England and seals her place as a Lionesses legend

Independent

3 days ago

"One of a kind," Sarina Wiegman said of Lucy Bronze. Her "fighter" of a full-back certainly offered an image that will go down in England folklore, albeit after a team performance that won't quite be mentioned as prominently.
Only the spirit, appropriately, will prevail. After a series of absurd misses, in what might well have been one of the worst penalty shoot-outs in football history, a hobbling Bronze ripped off the strapping on her left leg, and strode forward. An astonishing eight of the 12 previous penalties had been squandered. Some had been missed in scarcely believable fashion, the emotional momentum of the shoot-out veering as wildly as some of the shots. So, Bronze just smashed it straight into the roof of the net.
'I just felt a little bit tight at the end of the game and I thought, I just need to get through to make sure I can keep going,' Bronze said. 'I thought, it's going to hinder me in a penalty. I didn't expect it to go to the sixth penalty, and then it was my penalty. I thought, I need to take this off. I'm going to actually smack it.'
'That resilience, that fight," Wiegman enthused. The manager ended up conjuring another image about Bronze. 'The only way you get her off the pitch is in a wheelchair.'
Bronze was the personification of England perseverance, which is one quality you can certainly bank on - even in a performance like this. The kick similarly represented a decisiveness that had been missing from the previous 10 minutes, and most of the game. It also seemed to scramble Sweden for one final kick, as the 18-year-old Smilla Holmberg became just the latest player to sky the ball.
This time, it was enough. Bronze's force had driven England into the semi-finals of Euro 2025 - and that after her late goal had sparked the comeback.
Her team are now somehow 90 minutes from another final, albeit after a display where they really only played well for a few minutes. Much of that was down to the transformative Chloe Kelly.
The obvious discussion now will be over what this emotion does for the team, over the resolve, whether there will now be a momentum from this, a relief that releases them.
Wiegman said it was the most chaotic game she'd ever been part of. 'I can't remember anything like this,' she said. Over an hour later, while appearing at her press conference after 1am in Zurich, the manager said she was 'still hyper, still emotional'.
But, if we're talking about intangible elements like that, you simply have to focus on the psychodrama of the penalties. It was unlike almost any witnessed in football history, and a rare occasion where the final score of the regulation five each - 2-2 - equalled the actual game.
While Bronze finally seized the moment, it's hard not to feel that Sweden ultimately - and calamitously - let it slip away. And that's not just because they were 2-0 up in the 79th minute - a fact that almost felt irrelevant given everything that happened after that. Hannah Hampton later said she could barely remember the first 45 minutes. Her save early in the second half kept England in it, to go with those in the shoot-out. 'That was crucial,' Wiegman said.
Sweden still had the chance to secure their semi-final place as it was 2-2 with that very last regulation penalty, an anticipation only heightened as goalkeeper Jennifer Falk sensationally turned around and actually take it.
Saving three penalties evidently wasn't enough for her. She wanted to be a treble hero, with the last word. It wouldn't even be the second or third last word.
Hampton admitted she was 'surprised' and briefly 'panicked'. For all their preparation, England didn't have the data on her on the opposing goalkeeper's penalty record.
All of that went out the window, with Falk's shot. The goalkeeper was the first to sky it.Bronze had to show them how it was done.If the nature of the shoot-out naturally draws most focus, and is pretty much all most people will remember after that, there was still a performance that should draw at least some concern.
'I didn't enjoy it,' Wiegman said, albeit with laughter. She also pointedly disagreed with some criticisms of England's performance before Kelly dramatically transformed it from the 70th minute.
The back-and-forth nature of the shoot-out actually reflected England's display in some ways. England got it wrong, then got it right, then got it wrong again, only to display that vintage individual resolve to somehow get through.
One of the most remarkable aspects - before the penalties - was that Wiegman made the exact same mistakes as against France in the opening game. It was as if nothing had actually been learned, and that the recent revival was because of the poverty of opposition in the Welsh and Dutch games. England were still woefully vulnerable to pace. Keira Walsh had again been dominated in midfield, and Wiegman's side badly struggled to play through it. Sweden clearly targeted Jess Carter for pressing, but Leah Williamson wasn't exactly sure-footed beside her.
This was the source of both Swedish goals. Kosovare Asllani strode through after two minutes, and Stina Blackstenius - whose pressing was causing all manner of problems - scorched through for the second.
England's response was so meek until eventually, and what felt so belatedly, Wiegman made three subs. They were surprising subs, especially in removing Georgia Stanway and Ella Toone and not bringing on a replacement midfielder.
England front-loaded and went direct. Kelly, who followed Wiegman's triple-change, played a superb ball for Bronze to head in brilliantly at the back post. She defiantly kicked a hoarding, in a foreshadowing of what was to come. Sweden just didn't expect what came next to arrive so quickly. England went straight for goal again. Kelly was this time central and, within two minutes, Michelle Agyemang had turned it in.
A new hero. Delirium.
But not quite a new direction. The one issue with Wiegman's subs was that they were right for the situation but not for an open game. Extra-time did look a lot like England were just trying to play through it and maybe take a chance.
It also comes at a cost, despite the prize of that semi-final. Having gone the distance, all of Williamson, Bronze and Lauren James will need patching up. Williamson is of most concern, having rolled her ankle.
Apart from the physical recovery, there's also going to have to be a lot of thought about the team for that semi-final. "I need to calm down," Wiegman said, as Hampton answered a Facetime from family in the press conference. It was that kind of mood.
But danger awaits. Italy will surely have taken note of the blueprint to play this England. Wiegman's side have twice struggled in this tournament against quick and physical pressing teams. There were even signs of that going much further back, to the 2023 World Cup.
Except, England still go that bit further in this tournament. Wiegman's sole defeat in knockout football is still that 2023 World Cup final to Spain. They still persevere. They still have that resolve, that grit.
'I think that's a quality that is so strong in this team, that togetherness and fighting back,' Wiegman said. 'It shows so much resilience.'
England found a way. So much of that was through Bronze.