Millie Bright’s decision to withdraw from international duty for England’s women’s team because of mental and physical burnout was hailed as “brave” by teammate Lucy Bronze on Monday.
Bright made herself unavailable for England’s final camp before the Women’s European Championship, meaning she missed the 6-0 win over Portugal in the Nations League on Friday and will not play against world champion Spain in the same competition on Tuesday.
The Football Association’s official reason for Bright’s absence was that she was undertaking “an extended period of recovery” at the end of the season. The Chelsea defender expanded on that in a podcast with England teammate Rachel Daly last week, saying “mentally and physically I’m at my limits” and that “you need to value yourself and your mental health and body.”
Asked about how Bright’s absence was affecting the England team, Bronze — part of the same back four at Chelsea — said her friend was missed for what she brought on and off the field and that England players have been speaking to Bright throughout the past week.
“We’ve offered her our support. We just want to make sure she’s OK, both physically and mentally,” Bronze said. “It’s been a long season for everyone.
“Having spent every day with Millie, I know that she is someone who is quite tough and holds a lot in, but I think it’s quite brave of her to come out and speak. Just from a friend perspective, I just want her to be OK and give her as much time as she needs to feel OK again.”
The 31-year-old Bright is a regular for England, playing in the team that won the Euros in 2022 and captaining the side on its run to the World Cup final in 2023.
She has just helped Chelsea to win the Women's Super League-FA Cup-League Cup treble in the recently completed domestic season.
England’s first game in its European Championship defense is against France on July 5.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Steve Douglas, The Associated Press
