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Euro 2020 Quarterfinal Preview: Ukraine vs England

By Ernesto Hernandez

England's coach Gareth Southgate (C) attends a England training session at St George's Park in Burton-on-Trent in central England on June 30, 2021 during the UEFA EURO 2020 football championship. (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP) (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images)
England's coach Gareth Southgate (C) attends a England training session at St George's Park in Burton-on-Trent in central England on June 30, 2021 during the UEFA EURO 2020 football championship. (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP) (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images) /
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Artem Dovbyk and Taras Stepanenko celebrate Ukraine’s victory over Sweden and Ukraine in the Round of 16 of the European Championships. (Photo by Robert Perry – Pool/Getty Images)
Artem Dovbyk and Taras Stepanenko celebrate Ukraine’s victory over Sweden and Ukraine in the Round of 16 of the European Championships. (Photo by Robert Perry – Pool/Getty Images) /

The last semifinal spot of Euro 2020 will be up for grabs

Coming off a win against Germany, England will need to get past Ukraine if they want to be one of the last four teams remaining in Euro 2020.

The side managed by Gareth Southgate got a big weight off their back following the Germany win but will need to be focused against a Ukrainian side that did well to get past Sweden in extra time.

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Despite their historic win, Southgate says they are not looking past Ukraine lest they suffer the same fate as France or the Netherlands.

"“We’ve got to go away from Wembley, potentially quite a hot climate, hardly any England fans in the stadium, maybe not a particularly big crowd full stop in the stadium,” Southgate said. “The players knew individually so many of the German players and their direct attributes. We are having to learn a lot more quickly.“So we are just very clear, total focus on Saturday. We need to prepare for the game in the right way and the mentality is critical.”Source: Yahoo Sports"

England have an incredible amount of attacking talent. But it is unlikely Southgate will deviate from the plan that has got them just a couple of wins away from winning the tournament. For those clamoring for the likes of Jadon Sancho and Jack Grealish to start, they are going to be disappointed.

If there is any change, it might be going back to four in defense. England played three at the back against Germany. There could also be the return of Mason Mount who did not feature last time as he had to quarantine after coming into contact with Scotland’s Billy Gilmour who tested positive for Covid-19.

As mentioned, Ukraine needed extra time to get past Sweden. It will be interesting to see if the team feels any effect of playing 30 more minutes when they face England. It’s something they aren’t placing too much importance on, however.

"“Well, England are in the same situation, and playing twice in three days is nothing new for us. So I think we’ll be as prepared as we can be,” said defender Mykola Matviyenko.Source: UEFA"

Ukraine are not naive. They know where they stand heading into the game. England are the favorites. These two sides have only met once before and that was at Euro 2012 where the Three Lions won 1-0 thanks to a goal by Wayne Rooney.

But they are not going to let their status as the underdogs influence them. Ukraine also count on quality players such as Andriy Yarmolenko and Oleksandr Zinchenko who are very familiar with a number of players on the England team.

Still, they recognize they are going to have to be on their game and focused if they want to pull off the upset.

"“England are a great team, they have squad depth and outstanding coaching staff. We are fully aware of how tough this game is going to be,” said Ukraine manager Andriy Shevchenko. “They are incredibly difficult to score against but their strengths shouldn’t scare us. It should motivate us because everything is possible in football as in life and we will play our hearts out to give our fans even more to cheer about.”Source: UEFA"

The injury to striker Artem Besyedin is going to be a significant blow to Ukraine. He came on as a substitute against Sweden but suffered a knee injury in extra time. He’s left the Ukraine camp and is expected to be sidelined for around six months.

The game is going to be somewhat different to what England experience against Germany. They are going to find themselves with the majority of possession and the initiative will be on them. England hasn’t exactly impressed when they’ve had to be the team on the front foot.

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What Southgate does have going for him is should they find themselves down, in theory, they have plenty of attacking options on the bench to change the game. The question is whether or not Southgate decides to make use of them. So far in Euro 2020, he’s been reluctant to do so.

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