Lucy Bronze played through pain of fractured tibia to secure Euro 2025 glory
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.'
Lucy Bronze. Warrior 😤#WEURO2025 pic.twitter.com/wuxs9NjF7G
— UEFA Women's EURO 2025 (@WEURO2025) July 27, 2025
Bronze, now a two-time European champion with the Lionesses, opened up about her injuries following their 3-1 penalty shootout win over Spain.
'We never lost belief in ourselves. There was a lot of noise on the outside, but we just stuck together and dug deep,' she told BBC One.
'We showed that in the all the knockout games, to go 120 minutes and go back to back to back, is incredible. To win on penalties, in two games… this team is so inspiring to be part of.
'We give each other energy and what we have achieved today is incredible.
'Today we have just showed resilience, like we have through all the tournament. The want to believe in ourselves and believe in the people who give you support.
'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.'
Chloe Kelly insisted she was never in doubt when stepping up to take the match-winning penalty.
'I'm so proud of this team, so grateful to wear this badge and so proud to be English,' Kelly said.
'I was cool, I was composed, I knew I going to hit the back of the net. I don't miss penalties twice.
'It's unbelievable, it's not just this team it's the staff behind us. Twenty-three players and all the staff behind us. Sarina Wiegman has done it again. It's unbelievable.
'It's going to be crazy. I hope the whole of England comes out to support us and show the love to all these girls because they deserve it.'
Hannah Hampton admitted she 'lost track' of the scoreline during final's penalty shootout.
'This team is just unbelievable, incredible,' the England goalkeeper said. 'We've shown throughout the tournament we can come back when we go a goal back. We've got that grit, that English blood in us. We never say die, we keep going and we did that today.
'When Chloe stepped up I turned around to the fans, miming a kick and trying to ask if we score do we win, I'd completely lost track.
'They were just cheering at me so I didn't know what the answer was, but then I saw that run up and that was it, we've won. I can't believe it.'
Captain Leah Williamson admitted the Lionesses had ridden their luck, but believed they deserved victory in the final.
'It's just total disbelief, but at the same time I knew it was going to happen,' Williamson said. 'Playing for this England team is unbelievable. You just cannot put us down and it's such an amazing feeling to be a part of.
'We've ridden our luck. I don't think we were lucky, but we've ridden our luck and we've pulled up at the right time.'
🏴 England star Michelle Agyemang is the #WEURO2025 Young Player of the Tournament 💫 pic.twitter.com/vVMJoXvJZs
— UEFA Women's EURO 2025 (@WEURO2025) July 27, 2025
Michelle Agyemang, who collected the young player of the tournament award, spoke about her 'surreal' rise to being a European champion.
'I'm just so grateful,' the striker said. 'I thank God for where he's brought us as a team. It's so hard coming from a loss in the first game to now, but everything happens for a reason and now we're European champions.
'I think it's just surreal to have come this far so quickly. It's only by the grace of God and my team-mates and the staff and coaches. Everyone has put in the effort to get me where I am and I'm so grateful to everyone around me.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South Wales Argus
5 minutes ago
- South Wales Argus
Joe Root and Harry Brook give England hope after Mohammed Siraj let-off
Chasing a massive 374 to take the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 3-1, the hosts reached lunch at 164 for three with their top two batters at the crease. Ben Duckett and stand-in captain Ollie Pope departed as India made inroads towards squaring the series 2-2, but a typically dependable 23 not out from Root and a counter-attacking unbeaten 38 by Brook left things in the balance. Brook hit four fours and two sixes in 30 balls before the break but was almost caught by Mohammed Siraj, who held on to a skier at fine leg before stepping over the boundary rope. Siraj had snatched the momentum with the last act on Saturday evening, bowling Zak Crawley with a clinical yorker, and was soon causing more problems for Duckett. He turned his overnight 34 into a fourth half-century of the series but never really settled in lasting 40 awkward minutes. He was beaten eight times, edging three deliveries and missing five more. Siraj was responsible for most of his troubles but it was Prasidh Krishna who got the rewards, coming on at the Pavilion End and striking lucky with his fourth ball as Duckett threw the kitchen sink at a drive. After seeing England fail to claim six catches in the third innings, KL Rahul showed them how it was done with a rock solid take at slip. Krishna, gamely filling the considerable boots of Jasprit Bumrah, came desperately close to pinning Root lbw for just three but saw his huge appeal rejected. Ball-tracking showed it was clipping leg stump, but not enough to overturn the decision. After an hour's play England had scraped together 37 runs, briefly accelerating as Pope hit three fours in an over off Krishna, including one classy on-drive. But that was the end of a cameo rather than the start of something more substantial, Siraj charging in and nailing him in front of the stumps. At 106 for three, India had taken control but the arrival of Brook brought a screeching gear shift. He went for all-out aggression, at one stage lashing 27 runs in eight balls. That included a crunch through midwicket and a lavish six over cover off Akash Deep before his near miss at fine-leg, risking his wicket but picking up six more for his efforts. Siraj looked mortified as he realised he had overbalanced, with the English fans revelling in his anguish. Krishna, meanwhile, had to quietly shelve the celebrations he had already started to perform.
North Wales Chronicle
5 minutes ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Joe Root and Harry Brook give England hope after Mohammed Siraj let-off
Chasing a massive 374 to take the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 3-1, the hosts reached lunch at 164 for three with their top two batters at the crease. Ben Duckett and stand-in captain Ollie Pope departed as India made inroads towards squaring the series 2-2, but a typically dependable 23 not out from Root and a counter-attacking unbeaten 38 by Brook left things in the balance. Brook hit four fours and two sixes in 30 balls before the break but was almost caught by Mohammed Siraj, who held on to a skier at fine leg before stepping over the boundary rope. Siraj had snatched the momentum with the last act on Saturday evening, bowling Zak Crawley with a clinical yorker, and was soon causing more problems for Duckett. He turned his overnight 34 into a fourth half-century of the series but never really settled in lasting 40 awkward minutes. He was beaten eight times, edging three deliveries and missing five more. Siraj was responsible for most of his troubles but it was Prasidh Krishna who got the rewards, coming on at the Pavilion End and striking lucky with his fourth ball as Duckett threw the kitchen sink at a drive. After seeing England fail to claim six catches in the third innings, KL Rahul showed them how it was done with a rock solid take at slip. Krishna, gamely filling the considerable boots of Jasprit Bumrah, came desperately close to pinning Root lbw for just three but saw his huge appeal rejected. Ball-tracking showed it was clipping leg stump, but not enough to overturn the decision. After an hour's play England had scraped together 37 runs, briefly accelerating as Pope hit three fours in an over off Krishna, including one classy on-drive. But that was the end of a cameo rather than the start of something more substantial, Siraj charging in and nailing him in front of the stumps. At 106 for three, India had taken control but the arrival of Brook brought a screeching gear shift. He went for all-out aggression, at one stage lashing 27 runs in eight balls. That included a crunch through midwicket and a lavish six over cover off Akash Deep before his near miss at fine-leg, risking his wicket but picking up six more for his efforts. Siraj looked mortified as he realised he had overbalanced, with the English fans revelling in his anguish. Krishna, meanwhile, had to quietly shelve the celebrations he had already started to perform.
Daily Record
5 minutes ago
- Daily Record
Russell Martin Rangers interview decoded by five experts as risk/reward warning comes with 'strategic' blast
A fuming Martin warned his Gers flops to 'drop their egos' after stumbling to an opening day draw at Motherwell Day one of the new season and the new Rangers manager was ripping into his players. It's not what Andrew Cavenagh, 49ers Enterprises or fans hopeful of a new dawn will have wanted to hear. That's now three campaigns in a row where Gers have dropped points out the traps and ended up watching Celtic tearing off into the title distance. Russell Martin said before the 1-1 draw at Motherwell that there was plenty of time to recover. That's true, although his post-match comments demanding some of his stars "drop their egos" and get with the programme suggests he's not about to afford them much of it. Sutty seemed taken aback, but how have others interpreted Martin's nuclear rant? Here's what five other Scottish football experts had to say on the early season slap down. Kris Boyd "I don't mind the interview after the game. It's refreshing because you hear a lot of managers coming out and paying lip service because players have had so much power. Managers might look and think if I have a go at them, I might lose them. "I'm not surprised and for far too long, Rangers players have been running the football club and the performances have not been there, hence the reason why Celtic have been so dominant. Something has to change. "Listen it's one game in and anybody who watched the two European performances, the most important thing was getting through. You can't knock that. But in the performances, there's still a lot to work on. Russell Martin will know that. "It's going to take time. The Rangers fans will have to be patient but you don't get time. You need to win games of football and Russell Martin will totally understand that. But it's the same things that keep happening at Rangers time after time after time. It's up to Russell to now find a formula that wins Rangers games of football. "Russell Martin doesn't have anything to lose because I'm sure he's trying to get players in and the ones who have been there for a period of time have failed. If it means they don't want to go on the journey with him, he'll get rid of them. And there's nothing wrong with that. "Russell Martin's not in Glasgow or Scotland to make friends with players. He's there to get results And if they need called out - it's actually pretty sad if that is the case - you need a manager to really have a go at you, openly as well. I'd like to think he's had a go at them in the dressing room as well so if he's now going public with it, you know exactly what that means. he doesn't think a lot of them are prepared to go on this journey. "And one thing for me, they either knuckle down and start performing at the level they've shown in European games or against Celtic and start doing that against the rest. Treat the rest of the league with the respect that it deserves. "Rangers players are not bad players. They've shown in Europe and against Celtic that they can turn up for big games. but against the rest - and it was the same yesterday - it's oh we're the bigger club, we can rock up and get a performance, it doesn't matter. It took for Motherwell to score for Rangers to then up it again. That can't be the case." Jack Ross "A lot of managers now, because you become better educated on the impact of what you say publicly, and those that come out and are emotional, they do their work towards understanding the impact of it. "And for me, that's not what that was. There was emotion behind what he was saying, but that's strategic. There's an authenticity in what he was saying. On the back of the Panathinaikos games there's been positivity. But when you compare those interviews with that one, that was punchy. That's what I really think of the group that I inherited. "There's always a risk/reward element of that. But as Kris has touched on, he knows the size of the job he's got, how long you get to make an impact and he's almost going all in to say 'I need to impact this and make changes.'" Scott Brown "It's honest. If you look at Rangers over the last five or six years, somebody has to say it. And Russell is definitely the man to go and say it. He's not going to be shy. He's a fantastic coach and was doing good things down in England. "Now he's come up here and as Boydy says, you're not going to get a lot of time. He needs to make sure he hits the ground running. A 1-1 performance, whether you have 70 per cent of the ball or not, the last thing. that matter sis the result." Ian McCall "It was just too many words. People have picked up on that and will look at it in five or six different ways because it's the west of Scotland and its Rangers. "I saw the game and I do think playing in the heat in Greece and then coming back to Fir Park which is never easy historically, was always going to be a tough game but I was very surprised that he went to such length and into as much detail. "Whether he will keep doing that, I don't know. I suspect as manager of Rangers or Celtic, that when you feel disappointed or let down, I would have thought you would want to keep it to yourself and not be too strong about it. "But time will tell. It was a magnificent result over the two games against Panathinaikos. It must have been hard to take (against Motherwell) and he saw things he didn't like but maybe they could have been said in the dressing room rather than with the media. It was certainly an interesting chat he had, that's for sure. "One of the good things I took from it was that it's not a technical thing. I'm pleased that he said 'if it is not working technically then it's down to me'. But running hard, doing the right things and having the right attitude is down to the player." Callum Davidson "I don't think (it was an emotional reaction) with Russell. He is obviously an intelligent guy and he knows what he wants to say. "What I took from that was that he wants to improve the mentality at Rangers. He wants to say that there are 'no excuses, you are playing in Europe and then in the league'. "That's what I got from his interview. If you are not going to run. work hard and do the jobs you are supposed to do, then you won't play. "The problem he has got there is that he needs to make sure that he gets the players in that will do what he wants to do. "He was disappointed in that last half an hour where they looked a bit leggy and tired. But he doesn't want that to be an excuse. "As a manager you are emotional. I think he has laid it out there and sent a message to his players that if you are going to play for Rangers Football Club, then this what I expect."
