The midfielder has been one of his nation’s stars at this summer’s European Championships, and head coach Gareth Southgate is happy that he has played every minute of England’s four games so far.
And there were wild scenes of celebration in and out of Wembley on Tuesday night as England booked their place in the last eight with a 2-0 win over Germany, courtesy of goals from Raheem Sterling and captain Harry Kane, something that Phillips will never forget.
“The atmosphere we experienced at the Germany game was otherworldly,” Phillips said.
“I have never experienced anything like this, especially after the first goal. Even the second goal was ridiculous. “
However, tonight awaits a clash with Ukraine and it will be the first time that Southgate’s men have to travel outside of their comfort zone in the tournament.
And it’s been important for Phillips to get down quickly from a high level and refocus for tonight’s showdown.
“For me it is quite easy because it is the first time that we played against Germany, so I did not know what it was like in the past,” he added.
“Obviously we want to go far in this tournament, so we have to put that aside with all the celebrations and go against Ukraine again.
“We are looking forward to it. It will be a tough game as always and we will play in a decent stadium, which will be nice ”.
Andriy Shevchenko’s men secured the pass in overtime against Sweden at Hampden Park and are in uncharted territory having reached the round of 16.
Ukraine offers a different challenge than Germany, with familiar faces in Manchester City’s Oleksandr Zincheko and West Ham’s Andriy Yarmolenko.
Former England teams know all too well how to get ahead of themselves in knockout competitions and Phillips says they won’t take their counterparts lightly.
“They have great players,” Phillips said.
“Some of the guys know them personally. It’s one of those games where you have to try to keep them quiet and prevent them from doing what they do well.
“If we do that, I’m pretty sure we can win.
“We’re going to Rome and we know there won’t be that many fans, but it’s about getting the result to bring it back here to Wembley for the semi-finals.”
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Source: www.yorkshirepost.co.uk
This notice was published: 2021-07-02 18:59:07