ROME/ BAKU – England and Denmark have reached the semi-finals of the Euro 2020 Championships.
Gareth Southgate’s side will face Denmark in London on Wednesday for a place in the final after the Danes defeated the Czech Republic 2-1 in Baku.
England eases into semi-finals
England thumped Ukraine 4-0 as Harry Kane’s double helped them reach their first European Championship semi-final in 25 years in emphatic style and set up a showdown with Denmark at Wembley.
Gareth Southgate’s impressive side hit four goals in the knockout stage of a major tournament for only the second time, the first being in their 1966 World Cup final win against Germany, and kept a record seventh consecutive clean sheet.
“There was a lot of pressure on us as we were favourites to win this game. To perform like we did tonight, a clean sheet, four goals, it was the perfect night,” Kane said according to Reuters.
The England captain raced onto a clever Raheem Sterling through ball to fire in the opener from close range after four minutes at the Stadio Olimpico, England’s earliest goal in a Euros match since 2004.
Harry Maguire headed home a second less than a minute into the second half and Kane soon nodded in his side’s third as Ukraine’s resistance crumbled.
Substitute Jordan Henderson completed the rout with his first international goal to ensure England’s comfortable passage into the last four, the stage they fell at against Croatia in the 2018 World Cup.
“It’s a great feeling – back-to-back semi-finals at a major tournament is a great achievement. I don’t want to be a party pooper but we don’t stop here. We’ve got another big game coming up and we want to go further this time,” Maguire said.
Sterling cut in off the left wing and slid a through ball into a pocket of space behind the defence for Kane to race through and guide into the net with a neat finish.
Ukraine mustered their first effort when Kyle Walker gave the ball away and Roman Yaremchuk raced through to draw a save by Jordan Pickford, while England’s Declan Rice and Jadon Sancho had shots beaten away by Georgiy Bushchan before halftime.
England made it four from the resulting corner when Ukraine again failed to deal with a set-piece delivery as Henderson nodded in from six yards to score his first goal for his country on his 62nd cap.
“We had good parts of the game, but set pieces did not work very well for us today,” said Ukraine coach Andriy Shevchenko. “I am really happy with how the team performed. I want to thank the players for their attitude today.”
Denmark beats Czech Republic
Denmark’s rousing Euro 2020 campaign continued as they beat the Czech Republic 2-1 to reach the semi-finals thanks to first-half strikes from Thomas Delaney and Kasper Dolberg.
Patrik Schick responded for the Czechs early in the second half to score his fifth goal of the tournament and become the joint-top scorer with Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo.
However, Denmark stood firm to book their place in Wednesday’s semi-final at Wembley Stadium, where they will face either England.
“It’s hard to put into words,” said Denmark keeper Kasper Schmeichel.
“The Czech Republic is an insanely difficult team to play against. We played well in the first half, but the second was difficult. We can fight and fight, and we did. It was a great relief when the final whistle came.”
The Czechs had pulled off a shock in the last round by beating the Netherlands 2-0 but the determined Danes proved too strong, ending their hopes of reaching a first Euros semi-final since 2004 and a first final since 1996.
“It’s a big disappointment,” said goalscorer Schick.
“I think we did all we could. At the end we just didn’t have the strength to turn it around. It looked hopeful with a quick goal but unfortunately we didn’t have an answer at the end.”
The result was Denmark’s third straight win after hammering Russia 4-1 in their last group game and thrashing Wales 4-0 in the last 16, continuing their resurgence after losing their first games against Finland and Belgium.
It also avenged the Danes’ 3-0 defeat by the Czechs in the last eight of Euro 2004 and meant they reached the semi-finals for the fourth time, taking them closer yet to adding to their unlikely triumph at Euro ’92.
Denmark made a flying start when Delaney took advantage of slack marking from a corner to head home in the fifth minute, although replays showed the corner should never have been given as the ball came off a Danish player when it went out.
They struck again at the end of the first half when left back Joakim Maehle delivered an inviting cross with the outside of his right foot which Dolberg side-footed in on the volley, adding to his double in the 4-0 win over Wales.
Dolberg’s goal took Denmark’s goal tally at this Euros to 11, their biggest at a major tournament and surpassing the 10 they scored at the 1986 World Cup.
Denmark rode the wave of a raucous home crowd in their three group games in Copenhagen and enjoyed strong support against Wales in Amsterdam, capturing the hearts of neutrals after midfielder Christian Eriksen suffered a cardiac arrest in their opening game with Finland.
