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Electric England set sights on semis after Ukraine drubbing

July 04, 2021 03:30 IST

IMAGE: Jordan Henderson celebrates with teammates Luke Shaw, John Stones and Harry Kane after scoring England's fourth goal during the Euro 2020 quarter-final against Ukraine, at Olimpico stadium in Rome, Italy, on Saturday. Photograph: Alessandro Garafallo/Getty Images

Goal-scorer Harry Maguire says England's players are already setting their sights on their Euro 2020 semi-final against Denmark at Wembley after brushing aside Ukraine 4-0 on Saturday.

 

Striker Harry Kane netted a brace and Maguire and Jordan Henderson both headed home from set pieces to deliver England to their second straight semi-final at a major tournament after they reached the last four of the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

"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 than we did at the World Cup," Maguire told the BBC.

"Of course it's a great feeling to win here and the way we've done it as well, the big progress we're making as a country, so long may it be improving and continue, and we've got another big one coming up," he added.

Maguire's goal was England's first from a set piece at the tournament.

"It's a great ball in from Luke Shaw and I got good contact on it, and when I got that contact from that range, I knew it was a goal. It's nice to chip in with a goal, but the most important thing is that we won," he said.

Kane said his side brushed off the pressure of being favourites to deliver a clinical, composed performance.

"To perform like we did was top-drawer - another clean sheet, four goals, it was the perfect night for us," the England captain said.

"We don't get carried away, we've got a great unit here, a great team working front to back ... we've got a big semi-final coming up, we've got to keep working hard and recover well and then look forward to the semi-finals."

England face Denmark in the semi-final in London on Wednesday, with the winner going on to face either Italy or Spain, who meet on Tuesday, in the final.

Source: REUTERS
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