Oleksandr Zinchenko hails Manchester City team-mate Raheem Sterling as the ‘best winger in the world’ but backs Ukraine’s coaching to develop a ‘strategy’ to ‘stop’ him and others ahead of England quarter-final clash
Oleksandr Zinchenko admits his Manchester City team-mate Raheem Sterling will be the ‘strongest opponent’ he will face at Euro 2020.
Zinchenko says Sterling is the ‘best winger in the world’ after he scored England’s opening goal against Germany at Wembley on Tuesday night.
As a result, Zinchenko has urged Ukraine’s management team to develop a ‘strategy’ to ‘stop’ Sterling during their quarter-final clash with England on Saturday.
Manchester City’s Oleksandr Zinchenko and Raheem Sterling will face each other on Saturday
Zinchenko said Sterling, who has scored three goals in four games for the Three Lions during the tournament, is among those who will threaten Ukraine at Wembley.
He said: ‘Raheem? Who is the strongest opponent you have ever played against? I say that the footballers from Manchester City are. Those boys who I see every day at training.
‘Raheem Sterling is one of the best wingers in the world, and right now he is in amazing form. He is great. He makes the difference for England.’
Zinchenko (above) says Sterling will be the strongest opponent he will face at Euro 2020
Zinchenko says Sterling is the ‘best winger in the world’ after he scored England’s opening goal against Germany at Wembley on Tuesday night (above)
Having witnessed Sterling’s winning goals against both Croatia and the Czech Republic in the group stages, Zinchenko said that Ukraine must focus stopping the winger from continuing his fine form.
He added: ‘We need to pay attention [to Sterling]. We need to somehow stop him because he is on a roll.’
Zinchenko went on to admit that there was a difference in caliber between the England Ukraine teams, but insisted he was not ‘scared’ of facing Gareth Southgate’s men as he plays against them regularly in the Premier League.
The Manchester City midfielder said: ‘The substitutes bench probably costs three Ukrainian teams!
‘This should not be really be scary for us. This should motivate us. We need to give ourselves the highest aims and goals in this match.
Zinchenko says Ukraine’s coaches much develop a ‘strategy’ to ‘stop’ him in the quarter finals
Zinchenko said that England’s ‘substitutes bench probably costs three Ukrainian teams’
‘It is really difficult to score against England, they organise so well. They have a really good set of footballers.
‘I have watched all the games England have played except Germany. I know quite a lot of these England players personally because I see them in the Premier League.
‘I am sure the coaching team will get a strategy and we will have to realise that. I have a sense that everything is possible in this life and we will do what we can to win.’
Looking ahead to Saturday’s fixture, Ukraine’s manager Andriy Shevchenko has said that his side must be ‘strong’ and believe in their abilities to overcome the Three Lions.
‘We need to believe and be strong. The English are a great team, they have a great manager. I watched the first half and they are extremely strong. We will try something that will give us a positive result.’
Andriy Shevchenko said his side must be ‘strong’ and believe in their abilities to beat England
He also highlighted the importance of recovery – considering their last 16 tie against Sweden went on for 120 minutes.
‘We will try to recover our players physically and also psychologically because they gave their all.
‘We have so many emotions. The doctors were taking care of Bedesin. We will know more about the state of our health.
‘It was a hard game and there were a lot of crashes. The prize at the end was great and now one gave up, so there were so many crashes.’