Their most recent meetings came in qualifying for the 2014 World Cup, with Frank Lampard scoring an 87th-minute penalty to rescue a 1-1 draw at Wembley in September 2012, while the return fixture a year later ended goalless. Of the other six games, England have won four, including a 1-0 victory in the group stage of Euro 2012, Wayne Rooney scoring the decisive goal. Ranked 24th in the world, Ukraine have beaten England just once in seven attempts, a 1-0 World Cup qualifying success in 2009. That came after they squeezed out of their group as the last third-placed qualifier on three points - their 2-1 victory over North Macedonia being sandwiched between a thrilling 3-2 defeat by the Netherlands and a 1-0 loss against Austria. Ukraine reached their first quarter-final of a major tournament since 2006 - and their first at a Euros - thanks to a last-gasp extra-time winner against Sweden. England have reached a semi-final in successive major tournaments for the first time since 1968, and just the second time in their history.Managed by one of their greatest players - and 2004 Ballon d'Or winner - Andriy Shevchenko, they have already made their own European Championship history by reaching this stage for the first time.īut just how much of a threat do the Ukrainians pose to England? And could Shevchenko's side add to the list of tournament shocks at this summer's finals? What is Ukraine's recent form?
The most significant detail of all remains the consequence of this victory. Southgate’s side are not just breaking down every barrier, but offering a response to every criticism. The wonder now is how far this will really go. The forward naturally finished, but that was just the start. It was so perfect that Kane only had to run onto it and he had the goal at his mercy. He just picked the ball up on the left, weaved his way inside, and played the most elegant of angled balls. With both teams almost testing each other, there was no trepidation for Sterling. That is actually what happened with that key opening goal. There was a series of strong runs early on that just forced Ukraine 40 metres back on their own, as he often changed the tempo on his own. As convincingly comprehensive as this win became, Sterling’s influence in the uncertain early stages should not be overlooked. It perhaps isn’t a coincidence that the team went up a level just as he did. The stand-out, however, remains Raheem Sterling.
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