Inside Lucy Bronze's family life as Lioness shares secret to World Cup glory

17 August 2023 , 12:08

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Inside Lucy Bronze's family life as Lioness shares secret to World Cup glory

Lucy Bronze has admitted her little nephew and niece keep her grounded - because they think playing in huge stadiums is "normal".

Freddie, 3, and Alzira, 2, are among the youngest Lionesses supporters in the entourage of family and friends who have followed the squad Down Under. England have reached the final of the Women's World Cup after defeating co-hosts Australia in the semi-finals.

Their dad, Bronze's brother Jorge, has revealed the youngsters are so used to watching her at Wembley that they've not grasped the scale of the occasion. But for the right-back, just being "Aunty Lucy" is the perfect way to switch off from the World Cup pressure.

England will take on Spain in Sydney on Sunday. It's the first time both nations have reached the Women's World Cup final, with Spain aiming to win their maiden major tournament. Sarina Wiegman's side are the favourites for the final as European champions.

Bronze, 31, said: "When I see my family I speak to my niece and my nephew who are two and three, so they don't really have a clue about anything in terms of the occasion.

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"I sit after every game and throw ping pong balls for them in the hotel, we don't even speak about football. "My mum and my brother get really stressed (at the matches) but when I see them I don't even speak about football, it's family time and it's time to switch off.

"I've absolutely loved having them here, I've probably spent more time with them in Australia than I have in Spain or in England."

Lucy Bronze with her niece and nephew (Instagram/@lucybronze)

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Barcelona star Bronze has already brought the little ones along to some huge matches, including winning the Euros and four Champions League finals. But when the final whistle goes, Freddie and 'Zizi' just want to dance on the pitch and play with their Aunty.

Jorge, 33, said: "Freddie is like 'shall we go and watch Aunty Lucy play football at Wembley' and I'm like 'that's what we're going to do, but dude that's a big deal, maybe be more excited about it?' At the end of the day for them and for her she's just aunty Lucy and it's great that she's this icon superstar but nothing has changed in our family which is really nice."

Asked if their innocent indifference helps to keep her grounded, Bronze added: "Yeah definitely. It's really nice to have that side of things because there is so much pressure. You can't even go on your phone because there are piles of newsreels and stuff on social media. I go on my phone and I get funny videos of my niece and nephew."

Jeremy Armstrong