Lucy Bronze: ‘England squad have huge belief at Women’s World Cup’
England’s Lucy Bronze has said England’s ability to find a way to win during the 2023 Women’s World Cup has only added to the team’s belief.
The Lionesses beat Nigeria on penalties in the last-16 and have coped with the loss of key players during matches.
But they’ve not had a smooth competition so far. They won all their opening games – the first two – Haiti and Norway – saw England beat both 1-0. Both games were a little underwhelming but the first match was put down to first game nerves and by the Norway game, the loss of key player Keira Walsh seemed to rock the team.
However, the last group-stage game against China saw England get into the swing of it. The team looked incredible on the pitch, winning 6-1 in a really impressive form. Pundits remarked that it was the Lionesses announcing themselves at the tournament.
By the Round of 16 match fans were truly excited. News that Keira Walsh would be back in the squad, and off the back of the China game, many were excited about the performance England would offer up.
“There are many top teams who are going home because they haven’t been able to get that win or been able to see the games out – and we have.
Lucy Bronze
But the team struggled for much of the match, with Nigeria dominating. It didn’t help that Lauren James was shown a red card, leaving just 10 players for the Lionesses. But the squad won on penalties.
England must reset themselves if they want to go all the way in this tournament.
Bronze said the team have built confidence due to the tests they’ve overcome.
“We’re the ones who are still in the competition,” Bronze said.
“There are many top teams who are going home because they haven’t been able to get that win or been able to see the games out – and we have.
“We’ve shown that side of our team and that we know what it takes to win. We have our mentality.
“The belief is huge.”
England face Colombia on Saturday at 11:30 BST. If they win they will book their spot in the semi-finals where they will face either France or Australia.
“Everything that has been thrown at us, we’ve dealt with. I don’t see many other teams who have had that adversity
Lucy Bronze
‘We’re a confident team’
Despite going down to 10 players with more than half hour to hold on to a 0-0 draw – plus penalities, Bronze said the England team are a ‘confident’ one.
“We’re quite a confident team anyway,” Bronze said.
“We had belief in extra time and during the penalties. We know our strengths, we know what we’re capable of and we showed that to the world.
“We can give more. We’re a fantastic team with highly talented players but the important thing is we got through to the next round.
“There’s no point playing our best performances in the first games. We might as well save them for the quarter-finals or further than that.
“We’ve taken something from every game – whether that was the Haiti game that was physical, the Denmark game when we lost our key player [Walsh], the China game where we changed formation completely, and against Nigeria we had a red card.
“Everything that has been thrown at us, we’ve dealt with. I don’t see many other teams who have had that adversity.
“If they have, I don’t think they have managed to overcome it in the way we have.
