Millie Bright praises England's mentality & resilience ahead of Colombia quarter-final

Lionesses skipper Millie Bright has praised the team for their resilience in reaching the quarter-finals of the 2023 Women's World Cup against Colombia. It comes in the wake of a mixed group stage and tough last 16 encounter with Nigeria that was eventually won on penalties.

The Nigeria game did not go to plan. The formation worked far less effectively than it had done against China following the reintroduction of Keira Walsh, while Lauren James was marked out of the contest and sent off in a moment of frustration when she deliberately stepped on an opponent.

The Super Falcons were arguably the better team over the course of 120 goal-less minutes, but were unable to make that advantage count, with England previling 4-2 from the spo.

Bright has nothing but for the wat the team stuck together to progress from a tough game.

"I'm just really proud," the skipper said. "We knew these games were going to be extremely tough coming into this tournament. I said it from day one, our character, mentality, resilience, to give absolutely everything to the badge and represent our fans at home, and ultimately find a way to win."

In a tough game back in Brisbane, it was England's defence that helped to pull them through, especially when going down to 10 players, keeping a clean sheet and preventing a heavy physical attack from the Super Falcons from sending them packing.

"I think everyone stepped up," Bright said "It’s a team sport, and that’s why we play in defence. It is our job to keep the ball out of the back of the net and wait for the opportunities for the strikers to put it in the other end.

"But I think everyone stepped up. We showed composure to stay in the game, especially down to 10. We had that mindset not to give in and to know our process and know what we want to get through and what we can achieve. I am just really, really proud of the girls tonight. There’s a lot of emotion."

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Even through laboured wins over Haiti and Denmark in the group stage, the message from within the England has remained that results are more important than anything else. That hasn't changed.

" I don’t think we really care," Bright said on the nature of the last 16 win.

"We are through to the next round. Tournament football is about getting the job done. Of course, we all want to be better. We all want to play the perfect performance and be able to come to these interviews and say how fancy we looked. But ultimately, I am just bothered if we get through."

As England have found out more than once at this World Cup, there are no easy games. Haiti were one of the lowest ranked teams coming into the tournament, while Nigeria are 36 places lower than the Lionesses on FIFA's global standings. Other countries have experienced it too, with Canada, Brazil and Germany all unthinkably failing to make it beyond the group stage.

"We really respect all opponents that we come up against," Bright said. "They are here for a reason. There is no perfect solution for opponents; sometimes, plays don’t come off. We probably should have had a goal but ultimately, that is the growth of the women’s game.

"The time has gone where it is one or two nations shining and going all the way. You have seen it from the performances and results [at this World Cup]. For us, we expect this and that tests us as a group.

"We have to get better, we have to improve, but that’s football. It’s exciting. That is what we wanted in the women’s game - we wanted growth, we wanted nations to step up and improve. That’s exactly what you are seeing at this World Cup."