’When if not now?’ was a phrase used for Belgium’s potential win at the EURO 2020, considering their strenght and experience. Since Belgium finished it’s participation in the tournament after a defeat against Italy, this phase can be used to describe the English team. They have a really strong squad, they have played all of their games at Wembley so far (which means they are well rested) and they have an easy schedule, compared to some other teams. On their potential road to EURO 2020 finals, England are facing outsiders like Ukraine, and the winner of Denmark – Czech Republic, while Spain and Italy are already against each other in the semi finals.Gareth Southgate’s England masterpiece silences sceptics as caution reaps rewards against GermanyThat’s why their Ukraine game is so important. They have an easy schedule (if there is such a thing in any knockout competition) until the very end, but they need to use it. English fans have experienced situations like this before, and have been vary of the same possibility. Also, they have a game against Island in Euro 2016 to look up to, hoping that their heroes won’t allow another heartbreaking exit. And coach Gareth Southage is very aware of this.„It was painful and some of our boys were involved. But it ended up as a reference point for us, seeing the anxiety when things don’t quite go to plan. I won’t talk about it specifically to our players, but I do think that you shouldn’t avoid negativity because we do speak as a team about how we are going to react if the opposition scores, for example“ said Southage. Come on @England! 🏴 pic.twitter.com/CvHktX2Bl3— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) July 3, 2021 The England coach is taking Ukraine so seriously, that he directly denied any idea that he might rest some of his regulars who are one yellow card from suspension (Phillips, Maguire and Rice).„We have been to three major semi-finals in 60 years. The thought that we could be resting players — I can’t think of a nation that would do that and I don’t remember a nation doing that. I understand the strategy of thinking it through but it would be a bad message. It would be thinking about the future and we should not be thinking about the future at this moment. I was on a yellow card before the semi-final with Germany in 1996. You are aware of it as a player but you still have to be committed. Our guys are committed to each other. We have to do everything we can to give ourselves the best chance of winning this game and then we will have to deal with whatever situation we are in“ explained Southgate.England’s best EURO 2020 player is a Jamaican boyOn the other side, Manchester City’s Oleksandr Zinchenko says Ukraine need to play the game of their lives if they are to secure a historic win against England in the Euro 2020 quarter-finals.„I will say that numbers speak for themselves. The fact that England hasn’t conceded any goals yet, they play very well in defence. But I think that there are no perfect teams. Every team has weaknesses. At this stage of the tournament, everything is possible and I think that the coaching team will explain to us what to do with it and we will do our best. We will try to surprise them but of course we realise that to get through all the players and the whole team, they will need to play probably the best game of their lives“ said Zinchenko ahead of the game.England 1-2 Iceland 😲Portugal 0-1 Greece 🤯#EURO2020 has already had some surprise results, but these are the biggest Euro shocks ever pic.twitter.com/CI3AFutJgS— Sun Sport (@SunSport) July 3, 2021 As a player, Ukraine coach Andriy Shevchenko captained Ukraine to their first major tournament as an independent nation, at the 2006 World Cup, where they reached the quarter-finals before being knocked out by the eventual winners Italy. This summer he has guided his country to a Euros quarter-final for the first time, earning further acclaim in his homeland.„We understand clearly what team we will be playing against tomorrow. I think it’s one of the best teams. At this Euro it is one of the most balanced teams. They have amazing players and I would like to notice the work on the head coach, my colleague Gareth Southgate, who indeed gathered an amazing group and the team plays modern football. I think that England is in one of the best moments in its history right now. English football is going up now. We saw an amazing final of the Champions League, Man City and Chelsea – how much speed they had, their performance. We totally understand what team we will be playing against but we also know our strong side“ said Shevchenko.Location: Rome, Stadio OlimpicoReferee: Felix Brych, GermanyPredicted line-ups:Ukraine: Bushchan; Karavaev, Zabarnyi, Kryvtsov, Matviyenko, Zinchenko; Sydorchuk, Stepanenko, Shaparenko; Yarmolenko, YaremchukEngland: Pickford; Walker, Stones, Maguire, Shaw; Rice, Phillips; Sancho, Mount, Sterling; KaneEURO 2020 – Quarter-finalsFridaySwitzerland – Spain 1-3 after penalties (1-1 AET, 1-1 FT, 0-1 HT)/Shaqiri 68 – Zakaria og 8/Belgium – Italy 1-2 (1-2)/Lukaku 45+2 pen – Barella 31, Insigne 44/Saturday19.00: Czech Republic – Denmark22.00: Ukraine – England
