Jordan Henderson: Anyone underestimating Ukraine is delusional

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(Image credit: Carl Recine)

England vice-captain Jordan Henderson says anyone underestimating quarter-final opponents Ukraine is “delusional”.

The Three Lions are taking on Andriy Shevchenko’s men at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday for a place in the Euro 2020 semi-finals.

England are overriding favourites having beaten rivals Germany 2-0 at Wembley in Tuesday’s last-16 encounter, but Henderson is not taking anything for granted heading into the quarter-final.

“It was a fantastic performance but we haven’t achieved anything yet and we’ve still got a long way to go,” the 31-year-old said.

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“Full focus on Ukraine. It’ll be a really difficult test and anybody that says that it won’t be are delusional, really.

“I know people say ‘well, we beat Germany’ but you can’t underestimate the importance of this game and how hard good of a team Ukraine are and how hard it will be against them.

“We’re fully prepared and fully aware of that. We just need to go out there and give absolutely everything again and hopefully that’s enough to get us through.”

Social media was awash with videos showing Henderson celebrating against Germany but the midfielder says he was “probably the biggest party pooper” after the game.

The Liverpool captain knows what it takes to be successful and England are now having to play away from Wembley for the first time at Euro 2020.

“It’s a different challenge to what we’ve been used to over the past few weeks with it being at Wembley,” Henderson told the Official England Podcast.

“Maybe the atmosphere won’t be as good or there might be less fans in the crowd and things like that, but you’ve got to try and create your own atmosphere and your intensity on the pitch.

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“That’s going to be important, and just focus on the game.

“I think a lot of us will be used to playing without any fans, within the past year or so anyway, so it’s nothing new.

“We’ve just got to go out there, put on a real good performance and if we do that then we’ll have a good chance of getting through to the semi-final.”

PA Staff