Lucy Bronze insists the Lionesses have no need to prove themselves despite scraping into the Euro 2025 semi-finals and final. On Monday, they overturned a 1â0 deficit to beat Italy 2â1 in extra time thanks to a stoppage-time equaliser from 19âyearâold Michelle Agyemang and a dramatic penalty rebound goal by Chloe Kelly.
England survived Italy scareBronze hailed the teamâs resilienceConfident ahead of another historic finalFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! đąđ±WHAT HAPPENED?
Englandâs journey in Switzerland has been anything but straightforward. After an underwhelming opening defeat to France, they recovered against the Netherlands and Wales before needing dramatic late heroics to defeat Sweden in the quarter-finals. Against Italy, they once again had to dig deep, with second-half substitutions turning the tide late in stoppage time and then again in extra time with Kellyâs decisive goal.
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Bronze urged critics to acknowledge Englandâs consistency at major tournaments, pointing to an impressive streak that includes six consecutive semi-final appearances and now three straight finals. She highlighted that even European powerhouses like Spain and Germany have not sustained such form.
WHAT BRONZE SAID
Speaking to reporters, Bronze said: "I think people from the outside think teams have to win every single game. I think people talk about consistency with this England team, weâve done six consecutive semi-finals, three consecutive finals, who else has done that? Nobody. You know, Spain and Germany are fantastic teams, even they havenât managed that feat.
âItâs hard to stay at the top in international football, so many teams have performances, then itâs up and down, they develop, but this team just keeps fighting until the end. I feel like we didnât have anything to prove because weâve been there, weâve done it many, many times. Itâs just the fact that the gameâs getting better, international footballâs not as easy as it used to be. Everybodyâs fighting and everyone wants to win and everyone feels like they can win.â
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Bronze also praised the contributions of the tournamentâs youngest scorer, Michelle Agyemang. The forward has now netted three times in just four senior caps and also came agonisingly close to scoring a dramatic extra-time winner against Italy when she struck the bar late in the game. Reflecting on the teenagerâs rise, Bronze said: "Sheâs a little bit of the unknown and she brings something different to her other strikers and our attackers, which maybe other teams arenât used to playing against â especially in an England shirt.
âSo I think it gives her a lot of confidence and the team give her a lot of freedom, Sarina does. We want her to be confident and just play good football and try and score goals. When she scored the first one, we were like, âgo and do it againâ. And you saw that in the rest of the game. She was going on by herself, she had two or three good runs in extra-time where she was like, âIâm going to take this team to the finalâ. Itâs amazing to see and I think that gives the rest of the team confidence.â