by Lucy Bronze revealed that she had played the entire victorious women -European Championship campaign for women in England with a broken tibia.
The 33-year-old full-back had played every minute of the tournament until she succumbed to a separate knee injury during the final on Sunday in Basel.
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After her quarter-finals’ penalty over Sweden, when bronze achieved a decisive stain kick, said England boss Sarina Wiegman about the defender:
Bronze, now a two-time European champion of the lionesses, opened her injuries after her 3-1 victory against Spain.
“We never lost the belief in ourselves. There was a lot of noise on the outside, but we just kept together and dug deeply,” she said to BBC.
“We have shown that in all the Knockout games, 120 minutes to go and go backwards, is incredible. In two games to win in punishments. This team is so inspiring to be part of it.
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“We give each other energy and what we have reached today is incredible.
Lucy Bronze was stopped due to another injury during the final (Peter Byrne/PA)
“Today we have just shown resilience how we have the entire tournament. The desire to believe in ourselves and believe in the people who give them support.
“I actually played the whole tournament with a broken tibia, but nobody knew it. And now I have injured my knee on the other leg.
“I think that’s why I got a lot of praise from the girls after the Swedish game because I have great pain, but that takes me to play for England, and I will do that. They know that and we inspire each other by playing through such things and in the end it brought us.”
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Wiegman was asked about bronze, who was distributed to the English trailer department in the section “Fond in England” on the back of a teammate, and said: “Yes, she had some problems with her tibia.
“Of course we tried to manage that, but if you play for 120 minutes, don’t manage it, right?
“Lucy Bronze’s mentality is, I think the whole team has an incredible mentality, but it has a crazy mentality. It is incredible.”
Chloe Kelly insisted that she was never in doubt when she had recognized the punishment for the match.
Chloe Kelly celebrates after he has made the penalty penalty (Peter Byrne/Pa)
“I am so proud of this team, so grateful to wear this badge and so proud to be English,” said Kelly.
“I was cool, I was composed, I knew I would hit the back of the network. I don’t miss any punishments twice.
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“It is incredible, it’s not just this team, the employees are behind us. 23 players and all employees behind us. Sarina Wiegman did it again. It is incredible.
“It is going crazy. I hope all of England comes out to support us and show all these girls the love because they deserve it.”
The English goalkeeper Hannah Hampton saves the punishment of Spain’s Aitana Bonmati (Nick Potts/Pa)
Hannah Hampton admitted that she lost “the overview” of the goal line during the penalty shootout from Final.
“This team is simply incredible, incredible,” said the England goalkeeper. “We showed throughout the tournament that we can come back if we have a goal back. We have this Grit, this English blood in us. We never say, we continue and we did it today.
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“When Chloe stepped up, I turned to the fans, grazed one step and tried to ask if we score points, I win, I would lose the way.
“You just cheered me on, so I didn’t know what the answer was, but then I saw that up and that was it, we won. I can’t believe it.”
Captain Leah Williamson admitted that the lionessen had driven their luck, but believed that they deserved the victory in the final.
“It’s just totally unbelieving, but at the same time I knew it would happen,” said Williamson. “Playing for this English team is incredible. We just can’t put us down and it is an amazing feeling to be part of it.
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“We drove our luck. I don’t think we were lucky, but we drove our luck and we called at the right time.”
Michelle Agyemang, who collected the young player of the tournament award, spoke about her “surreal” promotion as a European champion.
“I’m just so grateful,” said the striker. “I thank God for bringing us as a team. It is so difficult to get a loss in the first game so far, but everything happens for a certain reason and now we are European champions.
“I think it is only surreal to have come so quickly. It is only through the grace of God and my teammates as well as the employee and coach. Everyone has tried to take me where I am and I am so grateful to everyone around me.”
