“It’s very painful,” Lucy Bronze offered up as her attempt to add the Understatement of the Year award to her European Championship winner’s medals. After a gruelling tournament ended with euphoria, the England defender could finally admit that she had been playing with a fractured left tibia. Apart from the odd grimace in matches and the need for medical treatment, no one would have known the right-back was carrying the injury. Was it worth it? “Absolutely,” Bronze said.
Winning major honours is hard enough but doing so with only one fully functioning leg adds a level of extremity that would break the vast majority of sportspeople. Nor is Bronze the sort of player who breezes through matches, hiding from view; she is a marauding full-back, committed to every challenge, unwilling to show any weakness as she gets up and down the pitch to wreak havoc on opponents, whether defending or attacking.
Bronze might be right-footed but the strain on the left when she slammed home her crucial penalty against Sweden would make others buckle. Footballers do not collect 140 caps, and go to seven major tournaments with their country, without being made of different stuff.
“I say it numerous times, she is an absolute nutter,” Beth Mead said of her teammate, “but she loves her country, she loves playing for her country, putting on that shirt, and Lucy was outstanding this tournament, considering.” Aggie Beever-Jones, who plays with Bronze at Chelsea said: “Lucy Bronze, I think she’s an absolute legend and she’s not getting off that pitch.”
Every player over the length of a career will have played with niggles, the odd hamstring strain, broken toe or sore rib, but nothing that affects the general stability of a limb. Bronze found out she fractured her leg after England beat Portugal in a pre-tournament friendly, having been in pain towards the end of the season.
“[She’s] so stubborn to continue playing when she can’t run or walk,” Jess Carter said. “She’ll find a way through. Stubborn is the first thing. But she’s a winner and winning is in her DNA. That’s what she wants to do. We all know that she’ll give absolutely everything for this team.”
Stubbornness is one thing but Bronze managed to complete 598 minutes in the process of helping England retain the European Championship trophy. For England only Hannah Hampton, Alex Greenwood and Keira Walsh were on the pitch more than the defender, with the goalkeeper showing what it is like to continue with a more minor injury, needing a tampon up her nose to stem bleeding in the quarter-final against Sweden.
There were a couple of lapses at the back post when defending crosses that helped opponents score but opposing wingers did not enjoy their match-ups against Bronze. “It’s something we’ve known about in camp,” Bronze’s understudy Niamh Charles said of the fracture. “We kind of know about it but she’s very good, she just gets on with it. No one really truly knows how much she’s dealing with it but to play on, that is pretty incredible, but if there was anyone to do it, it would have been her.”
All that is left is to wonder whether Bronze is a medical marvel, having been able to sustain her performances across six games despite the obvious impediment. Doctors do not like to second guess the injury without the details, but the general consensus from medics suggests it is most likely Bronze had a stress fracture that only affects one bone edge and does not go all the way through the tibia.
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“If it is a stress fracture, it is usually guided by symptoms the athlete has,” Dr Debajeet Choudhuri said. “Usually it is a four to six week period to recover after diagnosis but it can be up to 12 weeks. If she has been playing on it, it could advance and would extend the time before returning to play. Stress fractures can worsen and become complete fractures. It could affect other bones, joints and weight-bearing of other structures.”
Quick Guide
Players who have played through the pain
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Bert Trautmann Broke his neck while playing for Manchester City in the FA Cup final against Birmingham in 1956 after a collision with Peter Murphy. Carried on for the final 17 minutes, helping City win the trophy before being diagnosed.
Stuart Pearce After going into a challenge with Watford’s Micah Hyde in 1999, Pearce came off the worse but carried on for 10 minutes until half-time, only for the injury to be further inspected and for it to be judged the left-back had broken his leg.
Petr Cech The Czech goalkeeper started his Chelsea career with two fractured shoulders, playing on for 18 months with the problem. Not that it hindered him as he helped the club win the Premier League.
Cesc Fábregas The Arsenal captain was fouled in the box to earn a late penalty against Barcelona in the Champions League. He stepped up to score and complete a comeback from two goals down, only to later discover he had fractured his leg.
Dietmar Hamann Felt pain after winning the Champions League in 2005 with Liverpool. Eventually the German team doctor suggested he have an X-ray, which ascertained he had broken his foot.
Bronze had expert medical advice from the England medical team who would have explained the risks of soldiering on. Her training workload was managed carefully throughout the tournament. Normally for such injuries, pain relief would be supplied to anyone wishing to keep playing, although adrenaline may have helped too.
It is further testament to Bronze, who has “Tough” as a middle name, that it was an injury to her right knee sustained in the final that brought about her exit early in Basel. She walked across the pitch with strapping on her right leg, before offering up the surprise news about her left. “I am going to party, I am going to enjoy it and that’s it,” Bronze said at full time on Sunday, but even the bravest might need some rest, recuperation and rehabilitation.
