‘There is no fear against England.’

Andriy Shevchenko, Ukraine’s manager, claimed his players would not be scared by England’s 2-0 triumph over Germany at Wembley in their Euro 2020 last-16 match, but will be encouraged to pull off an upset in Rome on Saturday.

The Ukrainians qualified for the quarter-finals with a 2-1 extra-time triumph over Sweden on Tuesday, thanks to a last-gasp goal by Artem Dovbyk, after England eliminated Germany with goals from Raheem Sterling and Harry Kane in the second half.

“England is a fantastic team with a strong bench and a brilliant coaching staff, and we are well aware of how difficult this game would be,” Shevchenko said at a press conference.

“I saw all three of their group matches, save for today’s win over Germany, which I missed because we had to prepare for our own game against Sweden.” They are really difficult to score against, but we need not be intimidated by their strength.

“It should inspire us because anything is possible in football, just as it is in life, and we will offer our fans even more to cheer about.”

England has not conceded a goal at the competition, having beaten Croatia and the Czech Republic 1-0 in group play, as well as drawing 0-0 with Scotland.

Oleksandr Zinchenko, who scored the first goal for Ukraine and set up the second against Sweden, praised Manchester City teammate Raheem Sterling, who has scored three of England’s four goals in Euro 2020.

“Sterling is one of the best wingers in the world, and he’s making all the difference for England right now,” he remarked.

“To stop him, we’ll have to be at our best defensively, but it’ll be difficult because he’s on a roll.”

Zinchenko said that he and the rest of the team were under pressure to perform well against Sweden after receiving criticism for their dismal group-stage performances, which included losses to the Netherlands and Austria while overcoming North Macedonia.

“It was difficult for me to adjust since there was a lot of criticism directed at the entire squad, and especially at myself.”

“Today, we have demonstrated to the rest of Europe that we are capable of achieving our objectives.”

“I’d like to express my gratitude to the fans, especially those who were able to attend the game. This is a historic feat, and they should be ecstatic because such opportunities are few and far between.”