UEFA Euro 2020: West Ham United's Declan Rice powers through to the semi-finals

 

Declan Rice celebrates England's victory over Ukraine


Declan Rice started as England sealed their place in the UEFA Euro 2020 semi-finals with a 4-0 victory over Andriy Yarmolenko's Ukraine on Saturday night.

The West Ham United midfielder starred in midfield as England swept their opponents aside in Rome to reach the last four of a Euros for the first time since 1996.

England didn't have to wait long to get on their way, Harry Kane finishing in the fourth minute after being teed up by Raheem Sterling.

Rice warmed the palms of Ukraine keeper Georgiy Bushchan with a stinging effort from the edge of the box as England hunted for more, and they wrapped up the game with a blast of goals after the break.

Harry Maguire nodded home a minute after the restart, before Kane added a second and Jordan Henderson - who came off the bench to replace Rice - headed the fourth.

Next up for England is a semi-final meeting with Denmark, who brought the Czech Republic's brave run to an end earlier in the evening.

Tomáš Souček and Vladimír Coufal both played the 90 minutes in Baku, with Coufal setting up Patrik Shick's goal as their side battled to come back from a 2-0 deficit.

Denmark held firm, however, to maintain their 2-1 lead and leave Rice as the last Hammer standing at the Euros.

Photo: Dickie Pelham