Declan Rice says it would have been ‘really disrespectful’ to celebrate his goal in England’s 2-0 victory over Republic of Ireland given his family history.
Lee Carsley got his reign as England’s interim manager off to a convincing start in the Nations League, with a pair of unanswered first-half goals from Rice and Jack Grealish proving decisive.
Rice and Grealish – who have both represented Ireland in the past – were the target of loud boos and jeers at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium before kick-off and throughout much of the contest.
But the booing appeared to have little impact on duo, who both produced impressive all-round performances in the Irish capital.
After breaking the deadlock with a clinic first-time strike in the 11th minute, Rice held his hands out as a mark of respect to Ireland’s home support and refused to celebrate the goal.
Just 15 minutes later, the Arsenal star turned provider, assisting Grealish with an exquisite cut-back to double the visitors’ advantage.
Asked why he opted not to celebrate his goal, Rice told Sky Sports: ‘My nan and grandad on my dad’s side of the family are all Irish, they’ve obviously passed away and aren’t here anymore.
‘I think to have celebrated would have been really disrespectful of me with them not being here anymore.
‘And with them being my dad’s parents, I didn’t want to do that to be honest with you.
‘I had such an amazing time playing for Ireland, in the first-team, the Under-19s, the Under-21s, they were great memories that live with me.
‘I don’t have a bad word to say to be honest with you. I wish them all the best like I always do with anyone.’
Harry Kane passed the captain’s armband to Rice as he was replaced in the 84th minute but the midfielder turned down the opportunity as he felt John Stones ‘deserved it more’ given his greater experience with the Three Lions.
He explained: ‘Harry tried to give me the armband but obviously Stonesy is probably more senior and experienced than me.
‘I just said to Harry that John deserves it more than me so I said to give it to John and that was it.
‘It doesn’t need to be made into a bigger thing. I think John is one of the more senior ones and usually he’s captain when Harry doesn’t play so I think it was the right decision.’
Rice was pleased to get on the scoresheet though felt he could have added to his personal tally in Dublin.
‘I’ve been working on it since I’ve come back in. I’ve been really working hard at getting in the box since I’ve been back,’ Rice added.
‘Since I’ve come back I’ve had really good conversations with the manager at club level.
‘I’m not only going to play No.8 this year, there will be times when I play No.6 as well.
‘It’s really important that I can be fluid and adaptable and that I can play in both roles, that’s what he wants and feel like that suits my game really well.
‘There were some other chances today that I was really disappointed with where I could have probably been set free on the edge of the box.
‘But as the play was developing for my goal I just knew something was going to drop somewhere. I think it’s that natural instinct to hit it first time.
‘For it to go in the back of the net, obviously I was really happy because to make up those yards and then score at the end of it was really nice.’
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