Ukraine hero and his TV star wife... who live in Cheshire

When Raheem Sterling and the England team line up against Ukraine, they should at least be familiar with the opposition's star player – and his very glamorous wife.

Captain Oleksandr Zinchenko, 24, plays his football in the Premier League with champions Manchester City and, like Sterling and his clubmates, lives in a multi-million pound property in an exclusive Cheshire village.

Known as Aleks, Zinchenko's road to football glory is a remarkable rags-to-riches tale.

Born in Radomyshl, he signed for Ukraine's top team Shakhtar Donetsk as a boy, but was just 17 when he and his parents fled the city following the Russian invasion in 2014.

As refugees, Zinchenko lived with his mother Irina and stepfather Victor in an uncle's cramped garage in Moscow.

He trained with amateur sides to stay fit while his mother took housekeeping jobs. Eventually, Zinchenko signed for Russian side FC Ufa, where he was spotted by City's scouts.

Then 19, he was offered a dream move to Manchester for just £1.7million.

In October 2019 he helped Ukraine make it to the Euros by beating Portugal in Kiev. Zinchenko got down on one knee on the pitch and proposed to girlfriend Vlada Sedan with a heart-shaped display of roses.

He had met her through her job as a football journalist for a Ukrainian TV channel.

They married a year later and set up home in the village of Hale Barns, where they live with their two French bulldogs Louie and Mia. Mercedes-driving Zinchenko is sometimes spotted at the upmarket Booths supermarket nearby.

The couple have posted videos on Instagram of them celebrating birthdays in designer outfits and on breaks in Dubai, Malibu and the Grand Canyon.

Despite playing at left-back, Zinchenko scored the first goal and set up the second as Ukraine beat Sweden 2-1 on Tuesday. England should beware.