BRONZE: I’LL GO FOR GOLD
BY JOHN RICHARDSON LIONESSES star Lucy Bronze knew that teammate Jill Scott was destined to become I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here queen of the jungle.
And if the Barcelona defender gets her latest prediction right, England will be crowned world champions in the summer.
Bronze is back in this country as Sarina Wiegman’s European Championship winners look to retain the Arnold Clark Cup against South Korea (February 16 at Milton Keynes), Italy (Feb 19 at Coventry City) and Belgium (Feb 22 at Bristol City).
Scott and Ellen White, members of the victorious Euros side, have retired, but Bronze said: “I believe we are going to win the World Cup. We’re going in probably as favourites – everyone is pinning that on us.
“We’re going to be a different team than the one which went into the Euros. We will have different players.
“But we are doing well under Sarina. Getting together for the Arnold Clark Cup and a game at Wembley against Brazil in April we’ll see what the team have got.
“Yes, we’ve got a good chance because we’ve got one of the most talented squads in the world. We showed that in the Euros.
“We’re confident we can beat any team, but we also know football doesn’t always work that way.
“Jill Scott’s (above) time in the jungle helped promote women’s football, already on a high through the Euros, to an even greater level.
“The funny thing is that when we heard Jill was going on it, on our WhatsApp group we all said, ‘Jill’s won this’.” Bronze added. We knew straight away because we know what Jill is like, her personality.
“You can’t hide anything in the jungle, so it would be out there for everyone at home to see.”
And, by now, everyone knows what makes 31-year-old Bronze tick as she looks to win her 101st England cap.
She added: “I’m motivated to win even more. I want to win another Euros, I want to win a World Cup. I want to be the best player in the world. I am motivated not to lose, it’s in my DNA. I hate losing.”
That indomitable spirit, which has seen her play for top sides Manchester City, Lyon and now Barca, was forged in her hardest times in the US after rejection at 17.
She went off to North Carolina. “It was the best experience I’ve ever had,” she said. “I only went to America because I was told I wasn’t good enough to play for England, to get a scholarship in the English system.
“It was hard to take. All the other girls, the likes of Jordan Nobbs (now an England teammate) got on the scheme.
“In America, I was with some of the best players in the world, with one of the best, if not the best, women’s coach ever.
“I’m super- competitive. That is America’s type of thing, the competitive edge.
“It gave me the confidence to be supercompetitive, aggressive. In England, 10 years ago, I don’t think I was allowed to be that person.”