Lucy Bronze praises ‘world-class’ Lauren James and ‘sensational’ Ella Toone ahead of Euro 2025 quarter-final | OneFootball

Lucy Bronze praised her England teammates Lauren James and Ella Toone for their impact at Euro 2025 ahead of the Lionesses’ quarter-final against Sweden.

England face Sweden on Thursday in Zurich in the first of their knockout games and will be hoping to build on their momentum after two convincing wins against Netherlands and Wales.

James and Toone have scored two goals each in the tournament and Bronze praised their impact for the Lionesses as they fight to retain their Euros crown.

“LJ [Lauren James] is a world class player and Tooney [Ella Toone] is having a sensational tournament as well,” the Chelsea defender said.

“It’s easy when you‘ve got two players like that playing in front of you and playing with players of that quality. It’s fantastic that they’re on my team, not the other team.

“They have both really grown into the tournament and they are both key players for England, but most of our players are key players. For me, it’s fantastic to play with those kind of players and long may it continue that they have fantastic performances and keep getting better and better.”

After losing to France in the first game of the tournament, midfielder Georgia Stanway spoke about the Lionesses needing to bring back ‘proper England’ to go further in the tournament.

Since then, Sarina Wiegman’s Lionesses have bounced back with two emphatic victories, beating Netherlands 4-0 and Wales 6-1, securing them a quarter-final clash against Sweden.

“We’re a ‘new England’ and a new team,” Bronze added.

“We have a lot of younger players and new players who have very different experiences of playing for England compared to the likes of myself, where we know England used to have to dig deep all the time – 2015 was the first time we beat Germany, that’s insane to think of right now.

“England of the past, it was that you had to dig out performances and it was that you were maybe the underdog, not the favourites. Whereas this England team has developed, football has changed.

“We’re a very talented team, a lot of technical ability, tactics, all that comes with it but we don’t want to ever forget that we are England, we are proper England and if push comes to shove, we can win a game by any means possible.”

Ahead of the tournament, the England team shared what motivates them to keep playing football and Bronze, who is playing in her fourth Euros in Switzerland, detailed her continued passion for representing her country.

“My ‘why’ is that I just love working hard and I love the game, it’s as simple as that,” she said. “I started playing football because I love it, that’s literally it.

“When I loved it, I wanted to work hard.

“I had a picture of myself up from playing Sweden in 2019, of being absolutely exhausted at the end of that game because I will give anything, and I will give everything when I play in an England shirt.

“I wanted all the girls to know that that’s my ‘why’ – it is to give everything for this team because I just love playing for England so much.”