Lucy Bronze: 'Incredible' veteran full back remains key player for England

Lucy Bronze scored her 22nd goal in 145 senior England appearances against Iceland Lucy Bronze made her 145th senior appearance for England on Saturday, but few of her performances can have been better than this superb all-round display. The 34-year-old right-back scored the opener on 23 minutes with a fine header following a perfectly timed run to meet Lauren James' cross to ensure England's early pressure paid off. And with 12 minutes to play, as nerves jangled around the ground amid the Lionesses' failure to extend their advantage, Bronze produced a perfect cross for Georgia Stanway to sweep a volley home and seal three World Cup qualifying points against Iceland. On the day she surpassed Karen Carney to become the third most-capped England footballer of all time, Bronze showed why she remains the gold standard for the Lionesses on and off the pitch. "She's an incredible human being," England manager Sarina Wiegman told her post-match media conference when asked by BBC Sport about Bronze's performance. "She delivers herself and has so much football intelligence, helping the team on and off the pitch." Bronze has been England's undisputed first choice at right-back for more than