By Simon Wilkes
Lionesses defender Lucy Bronze says England ‘will not take anything for granted’ when they face Wales in their Euro 2025 showdown on Sunday evening.
Sarina Wiegman’s European champions started the defence of their crown with an opening defeat to impressive France, who won 2-1 and then cruised past Wales 4-1 in another dominant display on Wednesday night.
England were under pressure to deliver in their second game, this time against the Netherlands, and they did so, with Lauren James’ brace (22 and 60) helping them to an impressive 4-0 win.
Devastating display
Georgia Stanway and Ella Toone also got on the scoresheet as the Lionesses clicked into top gear and dismantled the Dutch with a devastating display of pressing and ruthless finishing.
The win leaves England second in the Group D table and needing a win over Wales to guarantee qualification when they lock horns in an 8pm kick-off on Sunday, July 13.
Wiegman’s team had 17 shots compared to the Netherlands’ four, and enjoyed over 52 per cent of possession to give them plenty of momentum going into the decisive Wales game.
But experienced full-back Bronze insists they expect a tough battle and will be mentally ready for the test, telling Sky Sports News: “We knew we didn’t play well [in the first game] but it was a really good France team.
“We know when we play well, when everything’s working together, we can put on performances.
“But that’s this tournament, it’s about bringing your best game every single time. We know we’ve got a tough group but we now need to go up against Wales.
“We showed how much we can stick together.
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Big rivalry
“On paper, people might think it is a bit unmatched against Wales, but it’s a big rivalry.
“We don’t take anything for granted.
“We knew we needed to win and getting a lot of goals was a big goal of ours as well, because you never know what’s going to happen in the final game.”
Stanway arguably scored the goal of the game, thumping home a crisp 22-yard strike to make it 2-0 to England just before the interval.
Back to proper England
She told BBC Sport: “Once we got to 3-0, we could settle a little bit because once we opened the doors and they get one back, you never know what can happen.
“This was about showing who we are and we’re ready to go back to proper England. We fought from the first minute to the very last.”
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