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Pundit shares what he doesn’t think gets spoken about enough with Arsenal star Declan Rice after England win
There was a sense of inevitability when it proved to be Arsenal star Declan Rice running onto the chance which led to England going 1-0 up against Republic of Ireland in Dublin.
Declan Rice🌞 had scored just three goals in his previous 58 appearances for England, so it would have been a real kick in the teeth for the Irish supporters when he managed to produce a finish into the top corner that Harry Kane would have been proud of.
The 25-year-old decided to not make too much of the goal, perhaps becoming the first player to not celebrate against a former country. It is fair to say that Jack Grealish෴ did not take the same approach when he doubled England’s lead later in the first-half.
𒉰Of course, the pair scoring was significant as they both represented Republic of Ireland earlier in their career. Grealish switched allegiances at under-21 level, while Rice made it to the senior squad before deciding that he did want to play for England.
What is not spoken about enough with Declan Rice
💟The duo are not anomalies with plenty of players switching their national teams. But speaking on talkSPORT, Darren Ambrose claimed that not enough is said about the fact that Rice did not simply make the switch after just one substitute appearance in a friendly.
⛦“I am delighted that he chose to come to England because he’s a fantastic player, but doesn’t get spoken about that much, by the way, that he played the three games for the Republic of Ireland, sung the national anthem and then decided to change allegiance,” he said.
ღ“I have heard Stuart Peace talk about this a lot, and I agree with him that once you put that shirt on of a national senior side, that should be it, whether it’s a European qualifier, whether it’s competitive, whether it’s a friendly, once you have worn that shirt, that’s then your nationality, and unfortunately, or fortunately for us, that’s not the case.”
Why Arsenal star actually deserves a little credit for controversial move
🐼Ultimately, if the rules allow a player to change which country they play for, then Rice has every right to use that opportunity if he wishes to. And you can understand why, after 2018, he decided that he would rather play for England, given that they had reached a World Cup semi-final that year.
🌳Obviously, many football fans are uncomfortable with the idea of players switching their international allegiance, as supporters do not really get that opportunity. But in some ways, you do have to credit Rice for making that decision.
It would have been easier to stick with Republic of Ireland after making three appearances. He has certainly come in for criticism – ༺James McClean famously did not hold back in sharing how overrated he thought Rice was🤡 – but the midfielder decided to upset a lot of people and do what he felt was right for his career.
🏅It is not often seen at international level, but it is surely having that one-track mind which has helped take Rice to the top.