ByNeil Ahern, europeantour.com
Ahead of this evening’s crunch World Cup Qualifier between Ukraine and England, three English Challenge Tour players give europeantour.com their thoughts on the game as they prepare for the first professional golf tournament to be held in the host nation, the Kharkov Superior Cup.
Fittingly, Ukrainian football legend Andriy Shevchenko makes his Challenge Tour debut this week and the players also sang the praises of the former AC Milan and Chelsea striker.
| Oliver Wilson |
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On Ukraine v England:
“It’s nice to be in the country where England are playing but I’ll probably just watch it in the hotel. I'm looking forward to it. Obviously they played pretty decent the other night against Moldova and they’ve got a bit of momentum, not sure what’s going to happen up front but they are good enough to win so hopefully they can and wrap it all up.
“I've never been to an England match but I'm a big fan. With what we do, we travel so much you get caught up and forget when things are going on. I would have loved to have seen England last Friday but it was so last minute I wasn’t able to.”
On Andriy Shevchenko:
“He was an awesome player. I'm a (Nottingham) Forest fan so we don’t deal too much with the top leagues but Shevchenko was a great player.”
| Steven Tiley |
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On Ukraine v England:
“I watched the game the other night and then on the flight from London through Amsterdam, there was a group of England fans, a supporters’ club. They were asking if I was going to the game and then they told me if I wanted to go it was easy to get tickets. I was talking to one woman who just follows England around. She went to Brazil for the friendly and the European Championships here in Ukraine and Poland and drive to every match. What they do is amazing, going to all these places.
“When you watch away games you see the England supporters but you just take it for granted, but what they do to follow England is like us golfers, all the travel and just following tournaments. If we play in Ukraine or Kazakhstan we just go, no questions asked. And that’s what they do with England, it’s crazy.
“They were all talking about the World Cup and stuff and I was wishing I was going to the game and being part of it. I really want to go to a game now because I've never been to an England game."
On Andriy Shevchenko:
“I've met Andriy a couple of times at Pro-Ams and things so it will be interesting to have him in the field this week. He was a great player.”
| Adam Gee |
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On Ukraine v England:
“I'm going to watch the match in our hotel. I was going to go to a local bar but I find it quite hard to control myself when England do score and I wouldn’t want to make a scene! It will be a tricky match, obviously with limited options up front, but it is awesome to see Ricky Lambert playing. He is like an old school centre-forward, like Alan Shearer except maybe not as good – plenty of elbows and loads of headers.
“The drive from Kiev to here was pretty difficult so hopefully it will be a nice England win with no drama. The drive was enough drama for us!"
On Andriy Shevchenko:
“I didn’t know Shevchenko was playing this week. I played nine holes with him once at Wisley Golf Club, where I play at home. He was such a good footballer. It’s great for the tournament that he’s playing and his golf is pretty good so it’ll be fun.”
