ENGLAND are into the semi-finals of Euro 2020 after a sensational performance against Ukraine.
It was a night to remember for the Three Lions in Rome, as Harry Kane netted twice to send them roaring into the semi-finals.
England will now take on Denmark this coming Wednesday after the Danes edged out the Czech Republic.
Follow ALL the latest reaction with our live blog below…
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SunSport readers have voted England’s Euro 2020 drubbing of Ukraine as their THIRD best match of the last 25 years.
But the 4-0 demolition job in Rome is still MILES off readers’ favourite game.
Gareth Southgate produced yet another tactical masterclass as England booked their place in the semi-finals.
Harry Kane scored twice – with Harry Maguire and Jordan Henderson also finding the net – as the Three Lions recorded their biggest-ever margin of victory in a major tournament knockout game.
The 4-0 victory eclipsed 3-0 wins over Denmark and Paraguay at the 2002 and 1986 World Cups respectively.
The Roman battering was also the first time England have scored four goals in a knockout game since the 1966 World Cup final win over West Germany.
ZIZOU ARE YOU?
Luke Shaw delivered two assists for England in the space of three minutes and 51 seconds at Euro 2020
And that was more than French legend Zinedine Zidane managed in 14 appearances at the European Championships.
Shaw set up the second goal for Harry Maguire before crossing for Harry Kane to make it 3-0 in the 4-0 win over Ukraine in the quarter-finals.
Told about his achievement of overtaking Zidane’s contributions at a Euro, Shaw said: “A very strange stat! A nice one, I think.
“Obviously, Zidane was one of the best midfielders ever and I can’t compare to him.
“But the most important thing for me was reaching the semi-final, getting another game at Wembley in front of our own crowd and hopefully making them happy again.”
SOUTHGATE YOU’RE THE ONE
Stuart Pearce, former England international and team-mate of Gareth Southgate, has praised his pal for his decision making so far at Euro 2020.
Pearce cleared up a common misconception about Southgate.
Speaking on talkSPORT, he said: “There was a misconception, potentially, and I’m talking from a footballing aspect, that he’s a soft touch, or whatever.
“I don’t think there is now because people in the game have [recognised] he’ll make the tough judgement calls and I’ll give you one or two real examples.
“He put Henderson in the group where a lot of people were saying he shouldn’t be, he’s not good enough for one reason, not fit enough. You can’t take injured players.
“He knew the worth of Henderson [and Harry Maguire], you saw that last night. Both on the score sheet. I’m absolutely delighted for both of them.
“But, because he knows what they both give the group he was prepared to wait. Not a popular choice in some quarters.
“Going into the first game, by the way, there was a lot of people shouting and hollering and rattling about Sterling shouldn’t be playing. Gareth knew his worth.
“All those people have pulled their necks in now because Sterling has probably carried this team, by the way.
“He [Southgate] has made judgement calls.
“Everyone wants Grealish and Foden in, popular choices, they are the sexy choices, but he hasn’t done that all the time. They have played their part as a group member but he picked the team he though was right and credit to him.”
Credit: GETTY IMAGES
SAK BACK, NO JACK
Gary Neville has picked his England XI for the Euro 2020 semi-final clash with Denmark – with Jack Grealish yet again missing out, writes DAVE FRASER.
The Three Lions demolished Ukraine 4-0 in their quarter-final clash in Rome with Jadon Sancho given his first start of the tournament.
The new Manchester United star, 21, looked lively throughout the game and gave England a new dimension in attack – despite being given a bizarrely low 4/10 match rating by L’Equipe.
Fans have been crying out for Gareth Southgate to utilise Grealish more having played just 115 minutes across England’s five games.
But Neville reckons the Three Lions boss should turn back to Bukayo Saka over Grealish or Sancho for the semi-final showdown against Denmark.
The Arsenal whiz, 19, starred in wins over Czech Republic and Germany but missed the Ukraine demolition job with a minor knock.
And Neville wants him back on the right-wing for the last-four clash at Wembley on Wednesday night.
LONDON CALLING
Hundreds of England fans took to the streets after last night’s thumping win over Ukraine.
Will the Three Lions reach the final next Wednesday?
Credit: GETTY IMAGES Credit: GETTY IMAGES SANTASTIC
Rio Ferdinand has made a bold prediction for Jadon Sancho’s first season at Man Utd.
Sancho started his first game a major international tournament for England last night in a 4-0 win.
And his dazzling footwork left United fans in awe.
Club legend Ferdinand spoke highly of Sancho on the BBC’s coverage of the game.
He said: “I’ll tell you one thing, next season at Man United, he’ll have people off their seats.
“There’s moments in this game where he draws your breath and you think, ‘Oh, wow, that’s different’ — and he’s a fabulous talent, we know that, but mentally he’s very strong and he’s got a desire to be as good as he can be.
“Players that can up the potential of the game are different and they bring something different to your team in the way that he does.
“This is his first game, by the way, in the tournament, and he comes in and plays the way he did and creates moments, it shows you the talent that is there.”
THREE YEARS LATER
Harry Maguire has scored at back-to-back major international tournaments for England.
LAMPARD ON SHAW
England and Chelsea legend Frank Lampard has praised Man Utd left-back Luke Shaw for his fantastic form.
Shaw registered two more assists last night against Ukraine in England’s 4-0 win.
Speaking after the game, Lampard said: “Something has clicked with him in the last 18 months.
“Sometimes you can’t control injury stuff, he wasn’t in the best of shape. Now he can do what you want from him.”
THREE LIONS RUN RIOT
Goals from captain Kane, Maguire and Henderson seed a 4-0 win in Rome against Ukraine.
England will now face Denmark next Wednesday at Wembley in the semi-final.
FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING
Jordan Henderson got his first England goal in 62 appearances.
CAPTAIN KANE
Harry Kane got off to a poor start at Euro 2020, but has since scored three in his last two.
And left-back Luke Shaw has registered three assists.
‘LONG TIME COMING’
England midfielder Jordan Henderson finally scored his first international goal after 62 appearances.
And Henderson couldn’t hide his excitement.
He said: “It’s about time, it’s been a long time coming.
“I have felt one coming and thankfully I’ve managed to get on the scoresheet.
“I’m delighted for the lads because overall the performance was fantastic and will give us good momentum going into the next game.
“I always felt it would come eventually, but I always try to contribute the best I can on the pitch, I never really think about that I need to score goals.
“There are a lot of other players to do that. I need to concentrate on my job on the pitch, what I need to do, what the coaching staff and payers need me to do.
“Of course I would have liked to have scored more goals but I can’t complain. I’m here, contributing and managed to get on the scoresheet.”
Credit: GETTY IMAGES CHOKEHOLD
Kane had Rice gasping for air!
‘ONE OF THE PLAYERS’ OF EURO 2020
Arsenal legend Ian Wright has praised potential Arsenal target Raheem Sterling as “one of the players” of Euro 2020.
Sterling has scored three goals for England and set up Harry Kane’s opener yesterday night.
Wright said: “Raheem Sterling is one of the players of the tournament.
“He finds Harry Kane with a brilliant pass (for the opening goal).
“He comes inside. We need players who can run with the ball, progress the ball, into Harry Kane who can take our half-chances. That’s a half-chance.”
‘MAN MOUNTAIN’
England and Man Utd legend Rio Ferdinand heaped praise on Man Utd club captain Harry Maguire.
Speaking after the game, he said: “He (Maguire) brings composure and sometimes the team looks different when someone wants the ball.
“He wants to get on the ball and take pressure off the other players. The team breathes more when he’s in the team.
“They are a stronger team and a better when he’s there. He’s so comfortable in international football, some players prefer club level or playing for their country.
“In an England shirt he looks like a man mountain. He comes out and just picks the right passes.
“You saw in his first game back he was threading balls in the lines. He brings someone in and then plays it through.
“That’s the difference between him and other centre-backs.”
ARE YOU SHAW?
Luke Shaw is finally showing the promise that earned him the big move from Southampton to Man Utd.
And he’s replicating it well for England, proving to be one of the Three Lions’ most important players.
WON IN ROME
England fans were in dreamland last night after the Three Lions scored FOUR times to set up a historic semi-final.
Millions partied deep into the night in packed pubs, parks and streets across the country – while 5,000 Three Lions fans roared on the team in Rome.
Jubilant fans sprayed booze and danced on tables as Gareth Southgate’s side cruised to their first Euro’s semi-final in 25 years.
The win set up a titanic clash with Denmark at Wembley in front of a boosted home crowd of 60,000 on Wednesday night – and PM Boris Johnson hailed an “outstanding performance”.
UNSUNG HEROES
Gareth Southgate has paid tribute to the England stars who have yet to feature at Euro 2020.
He said: “It’s enjoyable but immediately I’m thinking about the players that I didn’t get on the pitch because the likes of Conor Coady, Ben Chilwell, Aaron Ramsdale, Sam Johnstone, Ben White.
“We’ve had 21 on the pitch but those guys have been as important. The spirit that they’ve created, the togetherness.
“I regret not getting them on the field and I hate this thing of having to leave three out every match.
“It takes more energy from me than anything else because none of them deserve to be out of the 26.
“The fact that the guys have shown the respect that they’ve shown is why we’re in the position that we’re in.”
NOT DANE YET
England will need to be at their best to get past Denmark in the Euro 2020 semi-final, Gareth Southgate has said.
The Three Lions boss commented:
“They beat us in the autumn, we only drew to them in Copenhagen [in the Nations League]. They’re a very underestimated team.
“As a football nation they’ve done incredibly well, they’ve produced so many good players considering their population.
“This is going to be a really tough test and we’ll have to be at our best to get through it.”
SOUTHGATE PRAISE
England manager Gareth Southgate paid tribute to all of his players, including the substitutes.
Southgate told BBC One: “The players have been fantastic. To play as well as they did in a game with so much resting on it was impressive.
“It’s a strange feeling. I’m thinking of the lads we didn’t get on the pitch – Conor Coady, Ben Chilwell, Sam Johnstone, Aaron Ramsdale, they’re the ones making this team successful. The spirit in the group is phenomenal.
“Whoever comes in does the job, wheoever isn’t in – it is really difficult to leave three out of the matchday squad – the squad mentality is fantastic. That’s uppermost in my mind, looking after those guys.
“I’m spending more energy worrying about the three I have to leave out because they’re all good players. None of them deserve to be left out. They’re all giving everything in training. None of it is because I don’t think they’re up to the level but we have to make the decisions. We have to make the right call for the right game with the right system. All of the players have been brilliant, tonight all the way through the group they’ve been fantastic”
GETTY IMAGES SANCHO REACTS
Jadon Sancho is on his way to Manchester United but right now he is only focusing on England.
Sancho told BBC Radio 5 Live: “I’m feeling over the moon. Today was must-win and I’m just happy to have got an opportunity to play. This is a special moment for me.
“Every time I haven’t been playing I’ve been going back to training and been giving it everything.
“I’ve just been focusing on myself while I’ve been at England. I’ve always been ready if I needed to come on.
“We knew today was going to be a big game, Ukraine are a very good side. I’m delighted.
“To be fair, I don’t want to talk about Manchester United. Right now I just want to focus on England”
GETTY IMAGES
KANE SPEAKS
England superstar Harry Kane admits the team is on the right path but insists the job is not yet done.
Kane told BBC One: “What a great performance in a big game.
“We were favourites, there was a lot of pressure and a lot of expectations. The performance was top-drawer. Another clean sheet, four goals, it was a perfect night for us.
“We’re building on [clean sheets]. We have a great unit here from front to back. It’s a vital part of winning games and tournaments.
“We’ve got a big semi-final coming up. We’re on the right path.
“It’s where we wanted to be. We set out a vision before the World Cup of what we want to achieve. We are knocking it off step by step. The World Cup was great but we fell short, we had a good run in the Nations League. We’re in another semi-final.
“Now it’s about getting over the line, the next step that we have got to do on Wednesday.
“We have more experience [than 2018]. We’ve been playing for our clubs in big games – Champions League finals, Premier League title races. We’re looking confident. Hopefully we can continue that.
“The job is not done yet. There’s a lot more football to play.
“It’s always nice to score early in a game. It’s a great feeling to help the team. There was a lot of talk about me and my performances. But I’m just ready for the next game and try to lead this team to the European final”
GETTY IMAGES SHEAR THING
Alan Shearer praised Harry Kane, who equalled him on international goals in major tournaments after scoring his ninth cracker.
Shearer is also impressed with England manager Gareth Southgate’s decisions.
The Premier League Hall of Famer told BBC: “It is incredible the difference in Harry Kane. You can see he has a spring in his step.
“In the first minute of this game he picked up the ball 40 or 50 yards and pinged it and you thought, yes that will do. Then he scored soon after.
“Another tick for Gareth Southgate – he has come up with another formation, he has put in Jadon Sancho and all his decisions again have worked perfectly.
“He is not influenced by what goes on outside the camp. He is making all of the decision and he is making all of the right decisions”
HENDERSON BUZZ
England star Jordan Henderson is ecstatic with the big win over Ukraine that sent the Three Lions through to the semi-finals.
But Henderson is also over the moon with the fact that he finally scored his first ever international goal after 62 attempts.
The midfielder netted the fourth goal of the night and had no doubt it would ultimately happen one day.
Find out what the Liverpool ace had to say:
FERDINAND REACTION
Rio Ferdinand hailed Manchester United star Harry Maguire’s performance and claimed he is a special centre-back.
Ferdinand told BBC: “Harry Maguire looks so comfortable at international football.
“In an England shirt he looks like a man mountain to me. He comes out with the ball and picks the right passes.
“He always tries to come out, bring someone to him and then play the ball and that is the difference, he wants to commit someone and that is the difference between him and other centre-backs”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
