By Lori Ewing
BURTON UPON TRENT, England (Reuters) – Longtime Lionesses defender Lucy Bronze has never been able to watch a Women’s World Cup final – after being knocked out in the semifinals twice in a row on the global stage, the emotions were too raw.
“Every World Cup I’ve played in, we’ve been so close,” Bronze said at England’s recent media day at St. George’s Park. “Because we always get knocked out at the semis… I just don’t like it.”
The 31-year-old hopes this is the year England, seen as one of the favourites at the World Cup that kicks off on Thursday in Australia and New Zealand, snap that semifinal streak.
England were fourth at the 2019 World Cup, losing to eventual winners the United States 2-1 in their semifinal. It still stings four years later.
“The difference between us and the U.S. on the day that we played them was a VAR decision, a penalty save,” said Bronze, who won the tournament’s Silver Boot.
Bronze made a stellar World Cup debut in 2015, scoring in England’s 2-1 quarter-final win over Canada. The Lionesses went on to win bronze.
“I got home and there were adverts which had never been there before,” said Bronze. “We had not won a knockout game at a World Cup until 2015. It was a huge moment in my career – scoring, winning goals.
“As a nation it was a huge shift for women’s football and for the team in terms of mentality.”
Bronze left Manchester City for Barcelona last year, and she said she has grown in her new role in Spain.
“My role at Barcelona is different to what it’s been in previous teams. Every single player wants to play with the ball so the responsibility of defending falls a lot more on my head than it does elsewhere,” Bronze said.
“It’s given me a different outlook on how to play football.”
Bronze said she and Barcelona team mate Keira Walsh have instilled “a different kind of standard now at England training that has never been there before.
“It’s not the style of play necessarily but the expectation and the kind of quality you expect from a team that wins trophies and playing with the best players in the world.”
The Lionesses open the World Cup against newcomers Haiti on July 23, and hope to shrug off some recent frustrating results.
After an astounding 30-game unbeaten streak that included just five draws, England are winless in their last three games, losing 2-0 to Australia and playing both debutantes Portugal and Olympic champions Canada to 0-0 draws.
(Reporting by Lori Ewing; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
