Ukraine conquered Sweden in the round of 16 stage of the ongoing Euro 2020 on Tuesday night, June 29, 2021, to stage a quarter-final meeting with the Three Lions of England who knocked out Germany from the tournament on the said date.
In the history of the European Championship, Ukraine have never gone as far as playing in the quarter-finals stage of the competition. Coincidentally, the country’s all-time highest goalscorer, Andriy Shevchenko is the current head coach of the history-making Ukrainian team.
In the round of 16 game between Ukraine and Sweden which took place at the Hampden Park stadium in Glasgow, Scotland, Ukraine took the lead in the early minutes of the first half through Oleksandr Zinchenko’s 27th-minute strike.
Before the end of the first half, Sweden proved that they were not minors in the European Championship as they got themselves back into the contest thanks to a strike from Emil Forsberg who scored the equalizer in the 43rd minute.
Afterward, both sides had a series of goalscoring opportunities which they failed to take until the end of the regular 90 minutes. Hence, Ukraine and Sweden had to battle it out in extra time.
In the 99th minute of the encounter, Sweden received a major setback in their quest to continue with their fine form in the ongoing European Championship when Marcus Danielson received a straight red.
The 32-year-old defender who plays for Chinese Super League club Dalian Professional held the knee of Artem Besedin who was attempting to break the defense of Sweden. Unfortunately for the Swedish team, the VAR ruled it as a punishable offense.
With a man down, Sweden struggled to maintain the 1-1 draw throughout the extra time. They were able to successfully do that until the 120th minute. However, in the additional minute of the extra time, Artem Dovbyk scored a heartbreaking last-minute goal that sent Ukraine to the quarter-finals stage of the competition.
After the round of 16 encounter, Sweden head coach Janne Andersson said: “In the first half we managed to get the equalizer but in the second half we had four really great chances, hitting the post and the bar… it felt like we would score again eventually but unfortunately we didn’t.
“The red card really decided the game. I think the red card was probably right. We didn’t manage to do much in extra time. It’s a tough result to take, a bitter defeat.”
While Ukraine manager Andriy Shevchenko said: “I’d like to congratulate every fan and player of Ukraine for this historic moment. The guys played for the supporters. We’ll try to recover the players physically and also psychologically because they gave their all. We knew the prize was great and that’s why we didn’t want to give up.
“England are a great team. They have a great substitutes’ bench, great coach. They are very strong – I know that very well. We understand how tough the game will be.”
⚽️ All-time top scorer for national team
— UEFA EURO 2020 (@EURO2020) June 29, 2021
🔝 First coach to take Ukraine to EURO last 8
🇺🇦 Andriy Shevchenko 👏👏👏#EURO2020 pic.twitter.com/nR1WvIx2PV
Based on their 2-1 win over Sweden, Ukraine will now have to face England in the quarterfinals on Saturday, July 3 at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy.
🇺🇦 Ukraine are into the EURO quarter-finals for the first time in their history! 🎉🎉🎉#EURO2020 pic.twitter.com/IsGoNXzKU8
— UEFA EURO 2020 (@EURO2020) June 29, 2021
