DECLAN RICE HAS spoken about abuse from fans after opting to play for England over Ireland – but says his parents were the only ones worried.
Born and raised in London, 20-year-old Rice was eligible for Ireland through his paternal grandparents, who are from Douglas in Cork.
He represented Ireland from U16 to U21 level, winning numerous individual accolades along the way, and went on to make three senior appearances under Martin O’Neill. He was voted as Ireland’s Young Player of the Year for 2018, a gong infamously announced after he had switched his allegiance to England earlier this year.
Rice made his England debut in March, and won his fourth cap in Saturday’s 4-0 win over Bulgaria. His decision has attracted ire from some fans, and the player this week revealed the threats he received on social media.
“I’ve had a few bad bits,” Rice told ITV. “I’ve had people saying they’re going to come to my house, people online. There’s a few bits that I could go into.
“Threats to my family, threats to me. You’ll click on their profile and they will just be like a fake profile, so you don’t know if it’s true or not.
“But you know what, thinking about it now, I was never actually scared about it. There are always fans that are going to be giving you abuse and whatnot about it. You just have to look at it and laugh, think, ‘Yeah, alright, as if you’re going to come and do that’, that kind of thing.
“It was tough, there has been some abuse,” he added. “But it’s more for my mum and dad, they’ve been more worried than anyone else.
“I was always quite strong-minded but my mum, with me being the youngest [of three brothers], was a bit worried. But I’m good, I don’t take any notice of it. I just try to keep focused.”
Rice started as part of a three-man midfield against Bulgaria, along with Ross Barkley and Jordan Henderson.
Linked with moves to both Manchester clubs over the summer, Rice will now be focusing on maintaining his form at West Ham with one eye on Euro 2020.
England can take a further step to qualification for the pan-European competition with a victory against Kosovo tomorrow night. Gareth Southgate’s team lead Group A with a maximum of nine points out of nine so far, with Kosovo surprisingly second in the group, a point behind having played a game more.
With the warm-up games out of the way, Murray, Bernard and Gavan discuss the renewed cause for optimism, impressive individual player form, and a potential quarter-final versus either South Africa or New Zealand.
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