People are just realising Lucy Bronze's middle name after playing Euro 2025 with fractured leg
Lucy Bronze produced a heroic effort to help lead England to glory at Euro 2025. The experienced full-back revealed that she had played the tournament with a fractured tibia in her left leg after helping the Lionesses retain the trophy.
Bronze, 33, boasts 140 caps for her country, but she displayed a remarkable spirit to earn the most recent handful of those. Only three of her team-mates played more than Bronze's total 598 minutes in Switzerland, despite battling injuries throughout the Euros.
The Chelsea star managed a herculean 105 minutes as England triumphed over Spain in the final, having also damaged her right leg in the dramatic quarter-final win over Sweden. That performance summed up Bronze - scoring to bring the tie back to 2-1 before strapping up her leg for the winning penalty in the shootout, and perfectly fits in with her middle name, Tough.
Born Lucia Roberta Tough Bronze, the England icon was given her apt middle name as it is her mother Diane's maiden name. Bronze displayed more than her fair share of toughness as she revelled in England's penalty shootout triumph over Spain on Sunday.
"I actually played the whole tournament with a fractured tibia, but no one knew," Bronze told BBC Sport."I just hurt my knee today on the other leg. That is why I got a lot of praise from the girls after the Sweden game because I have been in a lot of pain.
"But if that's what it takes to play for England, that's what I'll do - they know that. We inspire each other by playing through things like that and it got us to the end, in the end."
Asked if her injuries would dampen her celebrations, Bronze added: "It's very painful. I am going to party, I am going to enjoy it and that's it."
Taking to X, one fan wrote: "Lucy 'TOUGH' Bronze, you are superhuman." A second posted: "Looked up Lucy Bronze to see how old she was and thought someone had been at the Wiki editing again, but no, no, her middle name really is Tough..."
A third said: "Nobody suits their name quite as much as Lucy Tough Bronze." A fourth agreed: "There's no one else but Lucy Bronze who would play the whole tournament with a fractured tibia. Her middle name is Tough for a reason."
Bronze's determination to help England win the Euros was encapsulated by her continuing to play through the pain until she was in tears when she was finally substituted. England boss Sarina Wiegman, who has won the Euros for the third time in a row as a manager, singled Bronze out for praise.
"She had some issues with her tibia so of course we tried to manage that," Wiegman said. "When you play 120 minutes you're not managing it are you? The whole team has a great mentality but she has a crazy mentality, it's unbelievable."
Bronze's efforts were also not lost on her fellow Lionesses. "Lucy, I don't… I have no words," England centre-back Jess Carter said, as reported by The Athletic."Lucy Bronze is just… I don't even know. She's incredible.
"Also, so stubborn to continue playing when she can't run or walk. She'll find a way through. Stubborn is the first thing but she's a winner and winning is in her DNA. That's what she wants to do. We all know that she'll give absolutely everything for this team."
Lionesses Bring It Home Again - Souvenir Edition
Bronze has represented England at seven major tournaments, but did not give a definitive answer over whether she would aim to be part of the 2027 World Cup squad. However, her England and Chelsea team-mate Niamh Charles was unsurprised by Bronze's sacrifice to help England to victory.
'She just gets on with it,' England and Chelsea team-mate Charles said of Bronze. 'No one really truly knows how much she's dealing with. To play on, that is pretty incredible but if there was anyone to do it, it would have been her.' Summing up Bronze's legacy, Charles concluded: 'Yeah, proper, proper English. She's a credit to that and an England legend.'
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Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) IT'S official: Lucy Bronze is even tougher than England's hardest full-back Stuart Pearce. So says the man himself, who was blown away by Bronze's revelation after winning Euro 2025 that she had played the entire tournament with a fractured tibia. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 4 Lucy Bronze played the whole of Euro 2025 with a fractured tibia Credit: Shutterstock Editorial 4 Bronze lifts the Euros trophy alongside her triumphant England team-mates Credit: EPA 4 Stuart Pearce was famed for his passion for England in his playing days Three Lions legend Pearce famously tried to 'run off' a broken leg for ten minutes while playing for West Ham against Watford in 1999. Yet Bronze living up to her middle name of 'Tough' and ignoring the pain to help the Lionesses get over the line left the 63-year-old in awe. The man affectionately nicknamed 'Psycho' told SunSport: 'It's obviously proved she's a hell of a lot tougher than I am, that is for sure! 'She's got incredible determination. On occasion she went down injured and you thought that was her done and she's coming off the pitch. She went back on again. 'Subsequently it appears she's had this problem with her tibia which is a real problem. To get through that shows great guts, great courage and says a hell of a lot about her.' Chelsea defender Bronze, 33, was an integral part of England's squad, which achieved a second successive Euros title as they beat Spain on penalties on Sunday. Pearce, synonymous with pride in playing for the Three Lions badge, saw kindred spirits all over Sarina Wiegman's determined squad for their passion to represent their nation. And he was impressed with their resilience when withstanding heavy pressure against the Spanish, and in the dramatic comeback win over Italy in the semi-final. BEST ONLINE CASINOS - TOP SITES IN THE UK The Euro 96 star added: 'They were magnificent. Every interview that any of them gave and all their performances echoed a group that were passionate to represent their country. 'It filled me with pride to see, to be honest with you. Lionesses' Beatlemania-like homecoming shows women footballers are FINALLY getting the honour and respect they deserve 'The ability to stay in games is a real quality in football, when you're being outplayed and the opposition are on top, to maintain your focus and wrestle momentum back. 'We talk about the quality and the technique of players all the time, but to have the courage and the togetherness to do that, I think was their ace card over this summer.' Pearce hailed Wiegman's coaching acumen throughout the tournament, particularly her substitutions and handling of Bronze's fitness. He said that if the Dutchwoman were ever interested in managing in the men's game, her CV proves she would be more than capable of making the transition. The former Nottingham Forest boss added: 'Football management is football management. 'I don't see it as outlandish that a woman could come into the men's game at the highest level, I really don't. Not with her CV because it stands alongside anybody else's. 'Whether that's a career path that she's looked at at any given time (is unclear). What I see at the moment is somebody who really enjoys the job she's in at present. 'The FA would be stupid to let her walk out at any time soon. When you've got someone of that high quality that is delivering trophies, you've got to say credit to them. 'The recruitment was wonderful in the first place. But somewhere down the line, if she went into the men's game, I think she would be successful.' After the Lionesses' triumph, as well as the men's Under-21s' own Euros glory earlier this summer, it is now over to the men's senior team to keep the good times rolling at the World Cup in a year's time. 4 Pearce added: 'All of a sudden as a men's senior player, you're thinking 'I've got to emulate that'. 'This is the standard that the FA and England have set now and we've got to be part of it.' Stuart Pearce was speaking on behalf of next-gen Fantasy Football mobile game CLUB. Download for Apple and Android in the app store now.
