Euros hero Lucy Bronze is now targeting World Cup success after night of glory at Wembley

Lucy Bronze is aiming for the stars as she targets World Cup success next summer having just added a Women’s Euro winners’ medal to her impressive trophy cabinet.

The 30-year-old will play for Barcelona next season having already won three Women’s Super League titles with Liverpool and Manchester City and three Women’s Champions Leagues with Lyon.

Now Bronze, who scored in the 4-0 win over Sweden in the semi-final before the Lionesses beat Germany after extra time in the sell-out final at Wembley on Sunday, has her eyes on more honours.

“Winning trophies like the Champions League, FA Cups and things like that has always been amazing, but a goal of mine has always been to win something with England,” she said.

“I would’ve traded all those trophies previously for a night like Sunday. I’m so proud of the fact we finally got our hands on a trophy - but now we want to get our hands on a World Cup next year.

“Anybody that knows me knows I’m like that with anything. The Euros is fantastic especially in our home country, but there’s a little star missing from our crest at the minute on the England shirt.

“That’s definitely a mission of ours to get that star there.”

With the coronavirus pandemic meaning the Euros was delayed by a year, Bronze and her England team-mates have just 12 months to wait for the next World Cup, to be hosted in Australia and New Zealand.

Sarina Wiegman’s side need just one more point from qualifying to ensure their place down under and Bronze believes the momentum of winning a Euros just one year before can be an advantage for England.

“We’ve got a year to build on what we’ve already done here,” she said.

“We could potentially carry on that momentum and that buzz and lift of the nation’s support.

“How well we’ve been playing, people’s performances both individually and collectively, so yeah it could work well in our favour.”

Emma Hayes, meanwhile, has no doubt that England boss Wiegman could “do the job” as a head coach in men’s professional football.

Chelsea manager Hayes says it is “time for a lot of things to be on more of an equal footing” following England’s stunning Euro 2022 triumph.

Manchester City winger Chloe Kelly’s extra-time goal sealed a 2-1 victory over Germany at Wembley.

It was the Lionesses’ first major trophy, and the first for a senior England side since the 1966 World Cup.

At the heart of it all was 52-year-old Wiegman, who only took charge last September, and claimed a second consecutive Euro trophy, having guided her native Netherlands to glory in 2017.

As a result, debate will inevitably intensify about the day when a female head coach carries out a similar role in men’s football.

“She is an amazing manager. It’s the same sport, she just manages women rather than men at an extremely high level,” Hayes said.

“I think some of the opinions in and around whether women could do that job are absolute nonsense. Of course she could do the job.

“I think it is time for a lot of things to be on more of an equal footing.

“Whether it is my niece only being able to play one football session in school, whereas the boys play three, or girls who are playing at the same level as the men on a fraction of their pay.

“For me, there has to be an increase in investment across the game, and when it comes to coaching into the men’s game it has to be a pre-requisite for successful teams.

“I think it is time for those changes to happen.”

“You’ve got to invest in not only free access for the kids, but also coaching, because seeing Sarina on the touchline last night I think is immense for any young girl who aspires to grow up being a coach. We need to invest in female coaches as well.

“I am super proud of Sarina. She is an an immense human being who carries the pressure so well and delivers in so many different ways.

“I’m sure for her winning the title with her home nation was immense, but she realised last night how massive football is in this country.

“She is so humble, she is knowledgeable, she is wise and she is experienced, and most importantly, she is a fantastic person.”