LONDON – Denmark and the Czech Republic both welcome back injured players for their UEFA Euro 2020 quarter-final in Baku on Saturday after an extended rest since their last-16 victories over Wales and the Netherlands respectively.
The Danes, who won the Euros in 1992 after a last-minute inclusion instead of Yugoslavia, are back in the quarterfinals for the first time since 2004.
The Czechs, who won in 1976 and were runners-up in 1996, made their last appearance in the quarters in 2012.
Striker Yussuf Poulsen returns after missing the Danes’ 4-0 drubbing of Wales in Amsterdam last Saturday in a game that saw his replacement Kasper Dolberg score two goals, giving Coach Kasper Hjulmand a pleasant selection headache.
“I feel ready to play on Saturday, but it’s Kasper’s decision,” Poulsen told a news conference according to AFP.
Having missed playmaker Christian Eriksen since his cardiac arrest in their opener against Finland, Hjulmand’s other attacking players have stepped up, with Mikkel Damsgaard a revelation as the replacement for Eriksen, who is at home recovering.
The Czech Republic booked their berth in the last eight with a 2-0 win over Netherlands on Sunday, and they too have been making the most of their days off.
The winners of Saturday’s tie will face a much quicker turnaround as they meet either England or Ukraine in their semifinal at Wembley on Wednesday.
England faces Ukraine
This time England expects. Whereas Gareth Southgate’s team went into their last-16 tie with Germany amid relentless reminders of historic failures against their old rivals and the fear of yet another, they are simply expected to beat Ukraine in Rome on Saturday.
It is not only the media and fans in England, buoyed by Tuesday’s victory at Wembley that makes the Three Lions clear favourites — any objective analysis of the two teams would reach the same conclusion.
England is ranked third in the world while Ukraine is 24th.
In the group stage of the tournament, England were unbeaten and finished top of their group while Ukraine lost twice and finished third, the only team with three points to make it to the knockout stage. This is their first Euro quarter-final match while it will be England’s sixth.
Ukraine has conceded six goals in their four matches while England has let in none and in seven meetings between the two nations, England has won four times and Ukraine just once.
“It’s pretty clear [that England are favourites] – you’ve seen them, the players they have, and the level they play at,” said Ukraine defender Mykola Matviyenko according to Reuters.
“So, yes, it will be difficult but I’ll say it again: anything is possible at this stage, and we believe,” he added.
While Southgate’s men go into this game still buzzing from the electric atmosphere at Wembley, Ukraine are also on a high after Artem Dovbyk’s header at the end of extra-time gave them a 2-1 win over Sweden.
The pressure is all on England for whom defeat would mean the tournament is viewed as a failure and they will leave their home turf for the Stadio Olimpico where the crowd will be smaller but probably backing their underdog opponents.
“This is a big challenge for us. We´ve got to go away from Wembley, to somewhere where there might not be many fans, it´s quite hot, and play an opponent where not many of their players are known to us,” Southgate said.
“And then there is this perception now that all we´ve got to do is turn up and we´re on our way. So there is total focus now on Saturday, we need to prepare the right way, and our mentality will be critical,” he added.
His counterpart, Andriy Shevchenko, is relishing the chance to take on England at a ground where he played against Roma and Lazio during his years as a prolific goalscorer with AC Milan.
“They are incredibly difficult to score against but their strength shouldn’t scare us,” he said.
“It should motivate us because everything is possible in football as in life and we will play our hearts out to give our fans even more to cheer about.”
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