Football is a very popular sport in Ukraine but our country has never reached such heights at the Euros. This is why all Ukrainians are thrilled and delighted now and all our attention is on the tournament.

The game against Holland-which we lost 3-2-was very dramatic, but during the games against Macedonia and Sweden, our team played really good football. These were very emotional moments for the country: they brought our people together.

That success is all the more important when Ukraine continues to fight for its territorial integrity and independence.

Now all the fans here in Ukraine are holding their breath for the England match. It will be tough and nail-biting because England team is one of the best in Europe and around the world, but we can be confident.

Andriy Shevchenko, Ukraine’s coach, has played for Chelsea and hopefully understands the English strategy and will make use of his expertise.

And we have some excellent players ourselves-I keep an eye on Oleksandr Zinchenko, Andriy Yarmolenko, Georgiy Buschan, Ruslan Malinovskyi, Roman Yaremchuk and Artem Dovbyk, who shone in the match with Sweden. But our entire team has great potential .

Success at this championship increases Ukraine’s international prestige and adds to the country’s accomplishments-and a win on Saturday would take us to a new level. We all are keeping our fingers crossed!

The Telegraph