Lucy Bronze says the Lionesses are looking forward to testing themselves against the “crazy mentality” of Emma Hayes’s USA team.
England host the United States at Wembley in front of around 85,000 fans in a prestige friendly on Saturday evening.
The Lionesses will come up against a familiar foe, with ex-Chelsea boss Hayes in the opposite dugout as she leads the US.
Hayes, who told Standard Sport this week that the experience of facing her own country will be “weird”, guided her team to Olympic gold in Paris over the summer.
She took charge in May after lifting the Women’s Super League (WSL) title again in the final season of her 12 years in charge of Chelsea.
“We’re really excited to play the US,” Bronze said in a press conference on Friday. “As long as I have been an England player, it has been one of the biggest games to be in.
“It is a rivalry that has blossomed out of nowhere in the last decade. It’s such a competitive, high-level game.
“It is a good test, because the US have just won the Olympic gold medal. To win [that], you have to have the crazy mentality that I think sums up the US perfectly. We have to show what we can do against a top team like that.”
England manager Sarina Wiegman spoke with similar excitement as she faced the media.
“It’s really exciting — there are going to be 85,000 people,” she said. “We’re playing the Olympic [champions], No1 in the world, and Emma Hayes. We’re absolutely competing tomorrow, so I’m just really looking forward to that.”
Wiegman was informed that Hayes had described her as a “friend” in her own press conference on Monday.
“It’s a fact,” Wiegman said of her friendship with Hayes. “I think with friends, you really want to beat your friends. Even more, maybe, than [managers who are] not your friends.
“Under Emma, their style of play is a little more patient, but there’s so much pace in their game.”
Manchester United captain Maya Le Tissier will miss the game against the US after being diagnosed with concussion following her side’s WSL defeat to leaders Chelsea on Sunday.
Arsenal defender Lotte Wubben-Moy was called up in Le Tissier’s place, but following an assessment back at United, the latter has now returned to the England camp and could feature in Tuesday’s friendly against Switzerland at Bramall Lane.
“The squad is good,” Wiegman explained. “Everyone is on the pitch. Maya is on the pitch. Non-contact today, but looking good.
“She’s not rushed back. After the game, she had a headache, so it’s all to the medical team.
“Then she went into the concussion protocol. She’s done really well. A neutral doctor will finalise that, so she can progress to [full] training sessions and then play.”
