While waiting for her first England call-up, Bronze considered an offer to represent Portugal instead
(Image credit: Getty Images)
It's difficult to imagine the England team without Lucy Bronze, who's been something of a permanent fixture since making her debut in 2013.
Over the past 10 years, Bronze has proved herself to be one of the world's best players and a vital part of the Lionesses' success.
The marauding right-back has earned 118 international caps but admits that, in different circumstances, she might have been turning out Portugal instead.
Bronze qualifies to represent the country through her Portuguese father and was approached to play for them as a teenager.
Lucy Bronze on the ball for Barcelona (Image credit: Getty Images)
"When I was 16, they asked my parents if I’d like to play for Portugal. I didn’t get picked for England for quite a while, which is surprising to some people," said Bronze, in a interview for the latest issue of FourFourTwo.
"I told my parents, 'If I get to 22 and still haven’t been picked, I want to play international football'. Although I wanted to play for England, I would’ve been just as honoured to play for Portugal."
"Then I got picked for England four months before my 22nd birthday, because there were four injuries, and I stayed in the squad after that. I probably would have played for Portugal if that hadn’t happened."
Get FourFourTwo Newsletter
The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.
Bronze made her debut in a friendly against Japan just a month before the 2013 European Championship, where she was an unused member of the squad as England went out in the group stage.
Keira Walsh and Lucy Bronze holding the European Championship trophy after beating Germany in the final (Image credit: Getty Images)
She soon established herself as a regular starter and then one of the team's driving forces as they challenged for major trophies, eventually winning Euro 2022.
Her consistently high level of performance has also been recognised with numerous individual honours, including being named The Best FIFA Women's player in 2020 ahead of Pernille Harder and Wendie Renard.
Throughout all that success, it's remarkable to think that Bronze could have been playing for Portugal instead, but thankfully she waited for England to make their move.
Chris joined FourFourTwo in 2015 and has reported from more than 20 countries, in places as varied as Ivory Coast and the Arctic Circle. He's interviewed Pele, Zlatan and Santa Claus (it's a long story), as well as covering the World Cup, AFCON and the Clasico. He previously spent 10 years as a newspaper journalist, and completed the 92 in 2017.
