LUCY BRONZE believes England having the mentality to see out difficult wins has been a boost in a World Cup of shock exits.
And the Lioness star, 31, paid tribute to Brazil icon Marta and other legends who played in the tournament for the last time in their careers.
On Saturday England go to battle with Colombia in Sydney for a place in the World Cup semis after surviving a tough clash with Nigeria.
Their South American opponents have proven to be giant killers claiming shock victories against Germany and South Korea leading to surprise group-stage exits for both.
And England will be going into the game without in-form forward Lauren James.
The Lionesses starlet, 21, is currently suspended after being sent off for treading on forward Michelle Alozie during England’s defeat of Nigeria.
However Bronze believes recent hard-fought wins against the Super Falcons and Haiti have shown England has what it takes to get results under pressure.
The 109-capped right-back said: “Everything that has been thrown at us, we’ve dealt with and moved forward.
“We’ve built on every game; we’ve taken something from every game.
“Whether that was the Haiti game that was physical, the Denmark game when we lost our key player in Keira (Walsh), the China game when we changed the formation completely, and then (against Nigeria) we had a red card.
Most read in Football
“I don’t see many other teams who’ve had that adversity and if they had, I don’t think they’ve managed to overcome the way we have.
“At the same time, we are not happy with our performances.”
Out of the top seven sides competing in this year’s contest hosted in Australia and New Zealand only England, France, Spain and Sweden remain.
Four-time winners the USA, and two-time champions Germany have been dispatched along with Canada.
Australia, Japan and Holland are the other sides from the world’s top 20 teams left in the tournament.
Colombia, currently the 25th-best side in the world, are the lowest-ranked team to reach this year’s quarter-finals.
Bronze added: “The most important thing is that we’re coming out of games with wins. I said this after the Haiti game,
“Some people thought that (type of win) was not probably what we wanted.
“However, we are the ones who are still in the competition.
“Many top teams are going home because they haven’t been able to get that point or been able to see the games out in a penalty shootout, and we have.
“We’ve shown that side of our team that we know what it takes to win.”
The group-stage and last-16 knockouts of Canada, Brazil and the United States saw three of the game’s biggest legends play in a World Cup for a final time.
Megan Rapinoe, 38, who won the contest twice with the USA, called time on her 17-year career following her side’s loss on penalties to Sweden.
And Brazil and Canada icons Marta, 37, and Christine Sinclair, 40, made their final appearances having each played in six World Cups.
Bronze said: “Those players are unbelievable.
“They’re players that I looked up to when I was younger, even though I’m probably one of the older players now.
“They really changed the game and lifted it to another level, a level that means that we’re in the position that we are today.
“Not just myself and this England team, but Nigeria and the other teams that are coming through like Jamaica.
Read More on The Sun
“You saw when Jamaica played Brazil the kind of admiration players like Bunny Shaw had for Marta.
“It’s because we know what legends they are and what they’ve done for us as players now.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
