There will be several reasons why the UEFA EURO 2020 quarter-final Ukraine vs. England in Rome will feel like a home match for Andriy Shevchenko’s men.
It kicks off at the Stadio Olimpico at 20.00 UK time.
The Italian authorities urged English fans not to travel for the game, because the rising COVID-19 cases in the UK have seen new travel restrictions imposed.
According to Sportmediaset, they are taking no chances and have set up at least five checkpoints outside the Stadio Olimpico to ensure nobody who should not be attending manages to make it into the arena.
There are concerns that at least 200 supporters have managed to make the journey anyway.
Over 3,000 police agents have been deployed to keep an eye on security at the event, primarily for the England fans.
It should feel like a Ukraine home match regardless, because the local Italian supporters have several reasons to cheer them on rather than England.
Primarily, the presence of Shevchenko as their coach – and former Milan defender Mauro Tassotti as his assistant manager – means Ukraine will get plenty of support.
Sheva spent seven years at Milan from 1999-06, winning the Champions League and the Ballon d’Or among other trophies, and then returned on loan from Chelsea in 2008-09.
There is also Ruslan Malinovskyi, who impressed so much since joining Atalanta in 2019.
In the 2020-21 season, he scored 10 goals and provided 12 assists for La Dea in 43 competitive games.
#Euro2020#UKR #ENG
Tassotti and @jksheva7 return to a familiar stadiumTassotti e Shevchenko tornano all’Olimpico, uno stadio che in rossonero li ha visti protagonisti pic.twitter.com/ocKbYWu74p
— AC Milan (@acmilan) July 3, 2021