West Ham teammates will once again come head-to-head in Euro 2020, this time it is Declan Rice’s England taking on Ukraine and Andriy Yarmolenko. The two Hammers have started every match of their respective nations’ European Championships campaign and will be battling it out for a semi-final berth. It is the second time Hammers teammates face each other in the tournament following Rice’s role in England’s 1-0 win over Tomas Soucek and Vladimir Coufal’s Czech Republic.
Andriy Yarmolenko said: “Yarmolenko didn’t play much [last season]. He had some injuries and was a little bit unlucky with this because we all know he has a lot of quality and a good personality. He is really motivated and I think that last month [of the season] when he didn’t play [much] for his club he thought a lot about this and so he prepared to be ready for the Euros. He showed this in the last games. He’s a real captain, he takes the team with him, he will be fit and motivated to play against England because for him it’s a little bit special: he plays in England and so against the national team it will [be] a chance for him to show that he deserves to play in the Premier League and that he’s a good player.”
Former England boss Glenn Hoddle has singled out Yarmloenko as England’s biggest threat to progression
Glenn Hoddle said: “Ukraine have some match winners in their team. They know their system and Gareth will have to think about matching them again, or he might come up with something different. Yarmolenko is wonderful player for his country. He does well for West Ham coming off the bench, but he looks a different player when he plays for his country, he’s confident and wants to play with a swagger. Ukraine have a really hard-working side and they have Shevchenko with his experience of English football. It’s not going to be easy but we have to fancy our chances.”
