Declan Rice has opened up on the reason behind his subdued reaction to his goal for England in Saturday’s 2-0 Nations League win over Ireland.
Rice produced the famous non-celebration that is usually the preserve of club players who score against their old team.
It’s so unusual for it to happen at international level that fans were taken aback by his reaction.
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Jack Grealish, who played for Ireland up to Under-21 level, was far more animated when he doubled England’s tally, as he hailed his strike in front of the England supporters.
However, Rice said afterwards that there was a very personal reason behind his decision not to celebrate.
“Obviously my nan and grandad on my dad’s side of the family are all Irish,” he said.
“They have obviously passed away, they are not here anymore. I think to have celebrated would have been really disrespectful of me, with them obviously not being here anymore and them being my dad’s parents.
“I didn’t want to do that, to be honest with you.
“Obviously I had such an amazing time playing for Ireland in the first-team, the 19s and 21s. I have great memories that will live with me.
“I don’t have a bad word to say, I wish them all the best, like I always do with anyone.”
Rice was aware of the noise around his return to the Aviva Stadium but didn’t let it affect him as he prepared for the Nations League kick-off.
“Obviously there has been so much talk this week, a lot of people in the media talking about me and Jack, and obviously Lee (Carsley),” he said.
“But to come here today and just to play and enjoy that environment, I really, really enjoyed it. And to score and get an assist for Jack as well, I was really happy.”
As for his goal, an excellent finish into the top corner after Caoimhin Kelleher had saved from Anthony Gordon and Nathan Collins blocked Harry Kane’s effort, he was thrilled with his strike.
“I’ve been working on it since I’ve come back in, I’ve been working hard on getting in the box,” he said.
“Since I’ve been back I’ve had really good conversations with the manager at the club (Mikel Arteta).
“I’m not only going to play 8 this year, there are going to be times when I’m going to play 6 as well, so it’s really important that I can be adaptable and that I can play both roles, that’s what he wants and that suits my game really well.
“There were some other chances as well that I was really disappointed… I probably could have been set through on the edge of the box, making those late runs.
“But as the play was developing for my goal I just knew something was going to drop somewhere. It’s that natural instinct to hit it first-time.
“For it to go in the back of the net, I was really happy.”
Rice, meanwhile, was surprised to hear about the furore surrounding interim England manager Lee Carsley and his decision not to sing the national anthem before kick-off.
Some in the English media were calling beforehand for him to be sacked.
Rice said: “I’m not on Twitter and I haven’t seen what’s been said about Lee.
“He played 40 times for Ireland and obviously that meant a lot to him in his career, and now he is England manager.
“I can’t call for what he wants to do, all I know is that from us, from the lads, we’ve been so impressed with him this week.
“He’s been so refreshing. His meetings have been top, really to the point, and the way we train and play has been so different. All the lads are really happy with him.
“Obviously we had such an amazing time with Gareth. Some of the best memories that we probably could ever imagine.
“The only thing that was missing was we didn’t win a trophy in our time.
“But with Lee now, I think he is adapted so well to the job, he has given a lot of lads a lot of confidence to go out and play.
“Look at Jack today, Jack is best when he’s got an arm around him and he is told how good he is. Lee has done that this week.
“When Jack is playing with personality and confidence, he is one of the best players in the world. I think that’s what Lee is bringing to this team and we need to be positive going forward.”
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