Euro 2020 - 'A man mountain' - Rio Ferdinand singles out Harry Maguire for special praise as England reach semi-finals
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Updated 03/07/2021 at 23:16 GMT
Rio Ferdinand singled out Harry Maguire for special praise after England reached the semi-finals of Euro 2020. England swept Ukraine aside in a stunning 4-0 win, with Maguire heading in the Three Lions' second goal. "In an England shirt he looks like a man mountain to me," Ferdinand said. England face Denmark next.
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Rio Ferdinand heaped praise on Harry Maguire after the defender helped England run riot against Ukraine at Euro 2020.
The Three Lions will take on Denmark in the semi-finals after blowing Ukraine away with a 4-0 victory.
Maguire scored England's second with a trademark header and Ferdinand singled out the centre-back for special praise after the game.
“Harry Maguire looks so comfortable at international football," he told the BBC.
"In an England shirt he looks like a man mountain to me. He comes out with the ball and picks the right passes.
He always tries to come out, bring someone to him and then play the ball and that is the difference, he wants to commit someone and that is the difference between him and other centre-backs.
Harry Kane and Jordan Henderson were also on the scoresheet for England as Gareth Southgate's side finally found their scoring boots in Rome.
Ukraine were right in England's face in the first half after an early goal from Kane, but the Three Lions came out in the second half all guns blazing, scoring three goals in quick succession.
Maguire was delighted with the result, but the Manchester United defender insisted England had to switch their focus to Denmark.
"It is a great feeling. Back-to-back semi-finals at a major tournament is a great achievement," he said.
I don't want to be a party pooper. We have another big game coming up. We want to go further this time than at the World Cup. It is a great feeling that we are here and the way we have done it shows the progress we are making. Long may the improvement continue.
"We have great belief in the dressing room. The first half was tough. We got the early goal we wanted but they caused us some problems with their change of shape.
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England jubelt über den Einzug ins EM-Halbfinale
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"The second goal settled us down a lot and from there we controlled the game. The third and fourth were deserved on the night. It was an impressive performance. We now have to rest and recover.
"It is hard to soak it up when you have another big coming and you know who you are playing and when.
The dressing room will be a great atmosphere tonight and then we will wake up tomorrow and be focused again. This group are not settling for a semi-final, we want to go further.
"We spoke about being better on attacking set-plays. We'd not scored one yet. We have two tonight. It was a great ball from Luke and I got a great connection.
"It is nice to chip in with a goal but the main thing is the victory."
In the earlier quarter-final on Saturday, Denmark continued their fairytale run by dumping out the Czech Republic.
The Danes, who were shattered by Christian Eriksen's heart attack on the pitch in their first Euro 2020, were by far the better side and will be desperate to knock England out.
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