Rome (AFP)

Suddenly replaced among the big favorites of the Euro after their victory against Germany, England faces Ukraine on Saturday (9 p.m.) in Rome in the quarter-finals, a match around which the specter of the Covid has rebounded, in a tournament scattered over several countries.

"England will never, ever, ever have a better opportunity to win a Euro than the one they have now."

The former glory of Manchester United, Roy Keane, summed up the general feeling after the victory in the round of 16 (2-0) against the "Mannschaft".

"I know they are moving to the next game, but if they have the chance to go to the final they will have played six of their seven meetings at Wembley, you can't hope for much better than that," added the former Irish international on the BBC.

By slaying his pet peeve for the first time in a playoff match in 55 years and the 1966 World Cup won at home, moreover with a cohesion and a going far superior to those of the first round, the "Three Lions" sent a message to the competition.

Gareth Southgate and his men, fourth in the 2018 World Cup, can no longer hide.

- Ukraine weakened -

Against Ukraine, modest 24th in the Fifa rankings, England, 4th in the same ranking and second best team still in the running, will be largely favorite.

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Qualified among the best thirds, Ukraine could also be weakened by the extra time it had to play to eliminate Sweden (2-1) in the eighth and by the loss of its striker Artem Besedin, injured in a shock.

In the last four, the winner will face Denmark (10th Fifa) or the Czech Republic (40th), opponents largely within the reach of the English in front of their audience.

But before that, there is therefore this first and only displacement of the competition to manage, in the Italian capital where the temperature is higher by ten degrees and where the Stadio Olimpico risks ringing hollow.

The day after the victorious round of 16, the English football federation announced that it was giving up the approximately 2,500 places - out of 16,000 authorized spectators - which were granted to it due to travel restrictions between England and Italy linked to the pandemic of Covid.

UEFA for its part decided at the request of the Italian authorities to "block the sale and transferability of tickets" from Thursday evening, but also "the cancellation of tickets sold to residents of the United Kingdom since June 28 at midnight ".

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With only four days between the two matches and a strict and mandatory five-day quarantine on arrival in Italy, making the trip does not make sense anyway for English residents and even less for Ukrainians, for whom quarantine is twice as long.

- Final 4 at Wembley still threatened?

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But this poster also revived the debate on the holding of the "Final 4" in a country where cases of Delta variant infection - which represents 95% of cases in Great Britain - have almost quadrupled in one month.

Italian Under Secretary of State for Health Andrea Costa on Thursday called on UEFA to make a "common sense decision" and consider "the possibility of a change in the venue of the finals or in the rules on the capacity of stages ".

From 22,500 spectators in the first round to 40,000 for the eighth final of the English, the Wembley gauge must reach 60,000 for the semi-finals and the final, or nearly 66% filling.

According to the press, UEFA had considered a dozen days ago to move these matches to Budapest, where the stadiums are running at 100% capacity, before London was confirmed as the host city.

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Exempted from quarantine, due to the isolation "bubbles" put in place during the competition, England has already been affected since it had lost for a week its playmaker Mason Mount and its side Ben Chilwell, identified as cases contacts of the Scotsman Billy Gilmour, tested positive for Covid-19 on June 21.

But at the kickoff on Saturday, there is no doubt that the minds of the English will be much more filled with dreams of glory than health concerns.

© 2021 AFP