England defender Lucy Bronze looking to repeat World Cup win over Germany

England renew their rivalry with Germany Wednesday afternoon hoping to prove their memorable victory over the European champions in the World Cup third-place play-off was not a one-off.

England’s 1-0 extra-time victory in Edmonton in the summer was their first success against Germany in 21 attempts. It followed a 3-0 Wembley defeat a year ago this month that was even more comprehensive than the scoreline suggested.

The pair meet in Duisburg today. “It’s a great chance to test ourselves against them again,” said England’s Lucy Bronze. “To beat them the first time was a big deal, to do so a second time would show it was not a fluke.

“When they beat us at Wembley it was very disappointing but we learned a lot that day. We were a bit naïve, went out all guns blazing. We learned to play differently afterwards against teams like them.”

That approach paid dividends in the World Cup, with England reaching the semi-finals for the first time. Bronze was an unexpected star, going from Alex Scott’s understudy at right-back to being one of the finds of the tournament scoring goals and winning a place in the All-Star squad.

None of which seemed very likely in the spring when she was recovering from surgery. “To go to a World Cup on the back of the knee injury was all I wanted,” she said. “To then play, and score, and win bronze was hard to believe.”

Incredibly, Bronze said she did not believe she was at her best during the competition. “I didn’t feel at my sharpest, not 100 per cent. Even at the end of the [domestic] WSL season I was playing games but had to dip in-and-out of training.”

This year was Bronze’s first at Manchester City, having left Liverpool despite winning back-to-back titles. It looked a strange move but Liverpool went into a sharp decline last season as investment was scaled back, while City are a club on the up.

“It was the right decision to move,” said Bronze. “I left a team that finished second bottom [this season] for one that came second top. I think City will be even more successful next season. We’ve a good, settled squad and we’ll be aiming for silverware.”

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Equally important, said Bronze, is the off-field back-up, with the ladies team having access to the staff and facilities of the men’s team which, when recovering from injury as Bronze was, is a huge bonus.

The facilities have also enabled City’s seven-strong England contingent to keep fit since the domestic season finished seven weeks ago. With the Frauen Bundesliga in mid-season, Germany may be sharper but, Bronze countered, “we will be fresher and won’t be carrying injuries”.

England did play twice in China last month, losing to the hosts but beating Australia. With a place at Euro 2017 all but assured, such is England’s superiority in their qualifying group manager Mark Sampson used the tour for experimenting. Bronze even started on the right wing in a 3-3-4 formation against China.

With Scott omitted from the squad, Bronze will be back at right-back today. Fara Williams returns after injury, but Karen Carney and Claire Rafferty are injured.

Germany are rebuilding ahead of the 2016 Olympics (which England qualified for but are unable to enter as the other Home Nations would not agree to a Great Britain team). Celia Sasic has retired which, said Bronze, “makes them less intimidating”.

Germany men’s scheduled international with the Netherlands in Hanover last week was called off in the wake of the Paris attacks due to a security threat, but Bronze said she was confident that the English and German Football Associations would ensure the players were safe.