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8th September 2024
09:40am BST
Declan Rice revealed in a post-match interview following England's win over Ireland in Dublin that he turned down the opportunity to wear the captain's armband for the game.
The former Republic of Ireland player opened the scoring for Lee Carsley's side after just eleven minutes, and held his hands up rather than celebrated out of apparent 'respect' for his ex-teammates and Irish roots.
Jack Grealish, who came up through the Ireland youth set up, took a slightly different approach when he doubled England's lead fifteen minutes later.
The Manchester City winger leaped into the air and delivered a fist pump in front of the travelling England fans.
After the game, Rice was asked for his reason as to not celebrating, and the 25-year-old said: "Obviously, my nan and grandad on my dad’s side of the family are all Irish. 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," he added. "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.
"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], 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."
On his return to the Aviva Stadium, Declan Rice fires @England ahead with a thumping strike 💥
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) September 7, 2024
Watch #IREvENG on @ITV pic.twitter.com/yoBbQiDITC
Rice also revealed that he decided not to wear the captain's armband for the fixture, despite being chosen to do so by Harry Kane
Instead, the honour went to John Stones, and Rice took the opportunity to credit his teammate in front of the television cameras.
"Kane tried to give me the armband but Stonesy is more senior and experienced than me. I just said to Harry, 'Probably John deserves it more than me. I said to give it to John'.
"That was it. It doesn't need to be made into a bigger thing. John is one of the more senior ones. Usually he is captain when Harry doesn't play so it was the right decision."
Despite their impressive win in Dublin, England are second in the League B Group 2 standings.
Greece outscored the Three Lions by putting three past Finland last night, putting them on top a goal ahead of Lee Carsley's side on goal difference.
Republic of Ireland are in third and will take on a seemingly in-form Greece side at the Aviva on Tuesday evening. Kick-off for that game is scheduled for 7:45pm.
