Former Scotland international Ally McCoist has issued a warning to England that if they lose to Ukraine it will be the worst result in their history.
Speaking on talkSPORT, former Rangers and Scotland striker Ally McCoist has warned the England national team that they cannot afford to lose against Ukraine this week in the UEFA Euro 2020.
England made it to the quarter-final of the European Championship after beating Germany at the Wembley Stadium this past Tuesday. It was a huge win for Gareth Southgate & co., especially considering the burden of history that was on their shoulders.
Up next for Three Lions are a resilient and valiant Ukrainian side that saw off a stern challenge from Sweden to make it to the quarter-final, courtesy of a 2-1 extra-time victory. Ukraine manager, Andriy Shevchenko, has already sounded out the war-horn, stating that he and his team have no reason to be afraid of England ahead of their encounter in Rome.
Now, McCoist has doubled down on that, by claiming if England lose against Ukraine, it will be their worst ever result in 40 years. He even insisted that such a result would be worse than the Three Lions’ infamous defeat to Iceland in the previous edition of the Euros.
“If England don’t beat Ukraine, it will be their worst result in 35 or 40 years. It was two bang average sides last night. I’m deadly serious. If England don’t beat Ukraine, it might be their worst result ever. If you don’t get to the final, it would nearly be a disaster,” the ex-Rangers icon said.
England haven’t been in the best of form at the UEFA Euro 2020 so far. Their group stage campaign was quite underwhelming, as they managed just two goals in three games, hardly setting the stage alight. Nonetheless, there was a marked improvement in their performance against Germany in the Round of 16 contest.
And, Southgate & co. will need to maintain the same level of purpose and intensity against Ukraine, who are capable of holding their own against the big teams. Should England see through the challenge from Shevchenko’s side, they will be facing off against the winners of Czech Republic vs Denmark in the semi-final. A huge week awaits the Three Lions.
