England defender, Lucy Bronze hailed an “incredible” UEFA Women’s Euro title defence despite having played the tournament with a fractured tibia.
Chloe Kelly’s winning penalty saw England defeat Spain 3-1 in a penalty shootout to retain the title after she had set up Alessia Russo’s equaliser which cancelled out Mariona Caldentey’s header in a comeback 1-1 draw in Basel, Switzerland.
Bronze has been part of both title-winning squads but this time saw the Lionesses lead for just four minutes and 52 seconds throughout the knockout stages, which left the 33-year-old defender amazed at how they kept belief after they needed extra time at minimum in their last three matches.
“We never lost belief in ourselves. There was a lot of noise on the outside but we stuck together.
“To go to extra time back-to-back-to-back is incredible. We give each other energy.”
Bronze however revealed live on BBC post-match that she had played the entire tournament with a fractured tibia, which she believes was why her teammates showered her with praise after their Quarter-Final win over Sweden during which she scored the winning penalty in that tie .
“I’ve played the whole tournament with a fractured tibia but nobody knew. That’s why the girls gave me a lot of love after the Sweden game.”
Bronze had previously played with many of Spain’s players during her time at Barcelona between 2022-24 so knew how tough they took the defeat, with Spain having been the title favourites throughout the tournament but light-heartedly quipped that England’s title was meant to be.
“To win on penalties is an amazing feeling but to lose on penalties is the worst feeling. “They’re great players, they’ve achieved a lot. It wasn’t meant for them today, it was meant for England.”
England had lost to Spain in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup Final but both teams took victory at home in their UEFA Women’s Nations League earlier this year, with Bronze believing that the team had thought more about the latter than the World Cup.
“I don’t think we were thinking too much about the World Cup. We beat them earlier this year.
“We’ve always shown resilience and fight.”
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