Lucy Bronze has said she “knows for a fact this team is going to win a trophy” after England lost against the USA in their World Cup semi-final.
For a third major tournament in a row England fell at the penultimate hurdle, having been beaten by Japan at the 2015 World Cup and by the Netherlands at the European Championship two years later. Bronze is certain they will right that.
“We came here to win this World Cup – we’ve fallen short,” Bronze said. “We wanted to make it to the final because we haven’t quite made it there but the fact that we are consistently reaching semi-finals showed how immense this team is and the strengths of this team.
“Now we’ve got a tournament as Team GB next year [at the Olympic Games] and then we’ve got a home Euros. There’s so much ahead of us and we can really push on and I know for a fact that this team is going to win a trophy at some point.”
Bronze, having dominated the England narrative as the jewel in Phil Neville’s crown, was disappointed with her performance on her home pitch in Lyon. “I was just disappointed with myself, disappointed in the first goal,” the right‑back said. “That’s not something I’m used to; I’m used to being defensively solid. No matter what people say about me as an attacker I always want to defend my player well and I’m disappointed that I didn’t do that to my best.”
The 27-year-old was realistic about the demands involved in being an elite athlete. “I’ve played about 100 games this season … To play that many consecutive games is tough but it’s no excuse. We’re professional athletes – that’s what we’re paid to do.
“I tried my best but it’s hard to play every game at your highest, highest level. No one can play every single game perfectly. None of these players on this pitch tonight are superhuman and capable of doing that.”
England travel to Nice for the third‑place play-off on Saturday and the drive is still there. “We want to win every single game and that doesn’t change now,” Bronze said.
The match is likely to be the last World Cup involvement for a number of England’s squad, including the goalkeepers Carly Telford and Karen Bardsley, the midfielders Jill Scott and Karen Carney and the forward Jodie Taylor.
