Oleksandr Zinchenko has stated he and his Ukraine teammates will have to play the “game of our lives” to knock out England in the Euro 2020 quarter-finals. The 24-year-old is conscious that Gareth Southgate’s side are strong favourites to progress on Saturday in Rome but is clear Ukraine believe they can win.
“At this stage of the tournament everything is possible,” said Zinchenko. “There are no perfect teams. Every team has weaknesses. It will not be easy – we know it. Our coaches will explain what we should do and we will try our best. We will try to surprise them but of course we realise that to get through all of the players and the whole team will have to play probably the best game of our lives.”
Ukraine scraped through the group stage in third place and required extra time to eliminate Sweden in Tuesday’s last-16 tie, Artem Dovbyk’s winner coming in added time at the end of the second period. Andriy Shevchenko’s side have conceded six goals in four games, losing twice. England are unbeaten and yet to concede a goal, with one of Zinchenko’s Manchester City teammates, John Stones, ever-present and another, Kyle Walker, playing in three matches.
Zinchenko said: “Numbers speak for themselves. The fact that England hasn’t let any goals in yet shows that they play very well. With regard to Walker and Stones: they played amazing seasons during the past couple of years I’ve been playing with them – they play at a very high level.”
Shevchenko is also aware of his side’s challenge. “We understand clearly what team we will be playing against,” the coach said. “It is one of the best teams at these Euros, one of the most balanced, they have amazing players and I would like to note the work of the head coach, my colleague Gareth Southgate, who has gathered an amazing group and a team that plays more than football.
“I think that England is in one of the best moments of its history – English football is going up now. We saw an amazing final of the Champions League [in May]: Man City and Chelsea, how much speed they had, their performance. We have our hardest game against a very strong opponent.”
Shevchenko was asked about a perception from some English pundits that Ukraine are the easiest opponent England could face at this stage. “We know our strong side,” he said. “We already showed our character at the tournament, we showed our principles, and we will never change them, and these are the basis for our team. I know how difficult the game will be for us but our players have character and we will try to show it.”
