England face Ukraine in Rome in the quarter-finals of Euro 2020, with the winner advancing to the last four in the competition against either Denmark or the Czech Republic.
Ukraine have never been this far in a European Championship tournament before and won their first knockout game ever, not on penalties for coming here this time.
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Here is a look at important information about them before England …
Oleksandr Zinchenko has won three Premier League titles with Man City / Robert Perry – Pool / Getty Images
Oleksandr Zinchenko is the immediate name that will stand out for England fans. The 24-year-old has been a key player in Manchester City’s latest Premier League dominance and played a key role in Ukraine’s 16-year-olds over Sweden, scoring the first goal and setting up the winner.
Despite being converted as a left-back by City boss Pep Guardiola, Zinchenko mainly plays in central midfield at international level. However, he played on the left as a backback against Sweden and has done so in the past depending on the tactical needs.
Ukraine’s other big name is West Ham going forward Andriy Yarmolenko. The captain provided the assistance for Zinchenko’s opening against Sweden and has two goals of his own in this tournament, including a stunning against the Netherlands in Ukraine’s first match.
Premier League fans have only ever seen flashes of Yarmolenko at his best as he does not yet have an injury-free season with West Ham, with 2020/21 no different.
Roman Yaremchuk scored twice for Ukraine in the group stage and Yarmolenko is the only player in the squad with more international goals than the Ghent striker.
At the back, Mykola Matviyenko has been linked with both Arsenal and Tottenham in recent years and has been ranked at around £ 30 million. He is Ukraine’s most leveled defender and has played at a high level for Shakhtar Donetsk since 2018.
Andriy Shevchenko named Ukraine’s coach 2016 / Robert Perry – Pool / Getty Images
National hero and 2004 Ballon d’Or winner Andriy Shevchenko was named Ukraine’s head coach immediately after the team was eliminated from the European Championships in 2016, after being an assistant at the tournament. The Ukrainian federation had in fact offered him the job as early as 2012.
Shevchenko withdrew from playing in 2012 – his last ever match was actually against England at the European Championships in 2012 – and initially began a career in politics.
The former striker for AC Milan and Chelsea could not guide Ukraine to the 2018 World Cup in neighboring Russia but secured a place at Euro 2020 by going undefeated in the qualifiers and topping a group that included reigning champions Portugal.
His lead time also saw Ukraine to League A in the UEFA Nations League, although they return to League B for the next round of the competition.
Shevchenko has already said that his team will not be afraid of England in the quarter-finals.
Ukraine has shown tactical flexibility in this tournament. They started all three group games in 4-3-3 form, but changed it to a 3-4-3 system for the 16-year-olds against Sweden.
In World Cup qualifiers earlier this year, Shevchenko also used a 3-5-2 form.
Ukraine won only once in Euro 2020 group stage / Robert Ghement – Pool / Getty Images
Ukraine’s qualification for Euro 2020 was not a bad achievement. They finished top of a qualifying group that included Portugal, were unbeaten and were only released four times in eight matches, which meant that only Belgium and Turkey had more significant defenses on their way to the final.
When they arrived at the tournament, Ukraine was involved in an entertaining Group C opener against the Netherlands. Both sides showed good attacking intentions and the Dutch went 2-0, only because Ukraine stormed back into the game. But in the end, they lost 3-2.
Ukraine’s only victory in the group stage was against Northern Macedonia in their second match, a 2-1 victory secured with goals from Yarmolenko and Yaremchuk. But they were beaten 1-0 by Austria in the third group stage, leaving them third in the table and in need of other results to go to their advantage to carry them to the knockout stages.
Ukraine took the lead against Sweden in the 16s thanks to a nice strike from Zinchenko. But Emil Forsberg equalized and the game eventually went to extra time. It was only after Sweden was reduced to ten players that Ukraine managed to get ahead, a real post from Zinchenko diverted in the net by the new striker Artem Dovbyk.
Ukraine entered Euro 2020 as the 16th ranked team in Europe / BSR Agency / Getty Images
Ukraine was 24th in the latest FIFA World Rankings before Euro 2020 started, making them the 16th best European country in this tournament.
They would therefore have been expected to get through the group stage to the 16-year-olds, but by reaching the quarter-finals, they have really exceeded expectations.
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