The Three Lions reached the 2018 World Cup quarter-finals, but were left deflated when they were eliminated by Croatia in Russia three years ago.
However, Gareth Southgate’s team has put that disappointment behind them by reaching the semi-finals of another major tournament after a dominant 4-0 win over Ukraine in Rome.
Only Denmark stands in the way of England and an appearance in the final of Euro 2020 and Maguire insists that thus far there will be nothing to enjoy from the team’s achievements.
“It’s a great feeling. Back-to-back semi-finals is a great achievement. I don’t want to be a spoiler, but we have another great match ahead of us,” the former Sheffield United defender told BBC Sport.
“We want to go further than we did in the World Cup. It is a great feeling to win here. It shows the great progress we are making and that the improvement will continue for a long time.”
He continued: “I think it’s hard to take it all in when another great game is coming and you know who you’re playing.
“The dressing room will be a great atmosphere tonight but tomorrow when we wake up we will be focused again.
“This group of players is not settling for a semi-final, we want to go further.”
The Manchester United player scored England’s second goal of the night early in the second half to calm the nerves with two goals from Harry Kane and one from Jordan Henderson rounding out the score.
Kane’s first goal came within four minutes of play as he ran for Raheem Sterling’s pass before pushing the ball home. The Tottenham forward headed in his second goal in the 50th minute before Jordan Henderson scored from Mason Mount’s corner after coming off the bench.
England scored two goals on set pieces and, of his goal, Maguire added: “We talked before the game that we wanted to be better at set pieces.
“It was a great Luke dance [Shaw] and I have a great connection. It is good to contribute with the goal and the victory “.
Ukraine had started to build pressure at the end of the first half, but Maguire’s goal in the first minute of the second half proved decisive.
“We have great faith in the dressing room. The first half was tough and we obviously got the early goal we wanted,” Maguire added.
“They caused us some problems when things changed, but the second goal calmed us down and from then on we controlled the game very well.
“It was an impressive performance at the end.”
Support The Yorkshire Post and subscribe today. Your subscription will help us continue to bring quality news to the people of Yorkshire. In return, you will see fewer ads on the site, get free access to our app, and receive exclusive members-only offers. Click here for subscribe.
More about this article: Read More
Source: www.yorkshirepost.co.uk
This notice was published: 2021-07-03 21:46:10
