‘Doesn’t seem quite fair!’ – Lucy Bronze reveals Euro 2022 booking request from Lionesses’ match-winning hero Chloe Kelly

Towards the end of an epic clash with Germany at Wembley Stadium, the Lionesses found themselves clinging on to the slenderest of leads – with Manchester City winger Kelly having edged them in front during extra-time.

Wild celebrations led to Kelly being booked for taking off her shirt, meaning that others had to step up when it came to running down the clock. Bronze formed part of that process, in her role as a buccaneering full-back, with Sarina Wiegman’s side having to dig in and do the dirty work in order to get their hands on a historic piece of silverware.

Bronze, who is now on the books of Catalan giants Barcelona, has told FourFourTwo of her memories from the Euro 2022 final: “A lot of that game is a blur – the biggest moment I remember was time wasting in the corner with Chloe Kelly and Ella Toone! Chloe told me to take a yellow card because she already had one for taking her top off after scoring. I thought, ‘You’ve got a yellow card because you scored the winner in the final and you’re going to become an icon; I’m going to get a yellow card for wasting time from a throw-in – this doesn’t seem quite fair!’ Hundreds of thousands were watching and in that moment we were having a laugh – no one else was part of that apart from the three of us in that corner!”

Bronze and Kelly went close to landing England another major honour at the 2023 World Cup, only to see the Lionesses fall agonisingly short in a 1-0 final defeat to Spain. A star-studded squad is, however, brimming with potential and more challenges are expected at future tournaments.