Recognition of underdog status mixed with reasons to believe as the nation hopes for more glory from Shevchenko’s side
“We respect the English national team. But we are not afraid,” read a defiant headline on Thursday in Vysoky Zamok, a daily newspaper from Lviv in western Ukraine. Propelled into the Euro 2020 quarter-finals by sheer moxie, grit and a bit of tournament luck,
Ukraine now hope to upset an
England team that feel fate is on their side.
Ukraine’s Cinderella story has seen the team progress from third place in Group C to secure a surprise win over
Sweden with a 121st-minute header on Tuesday. As his underdogs prepare for Saturday’s match in Rome, Andriy Shevchenko said what millions of exhilarated Ukrainians are hoping: “Anything is possible.”