Declan Rice has revealed why he opted not to celebrate his goal for England in their 2-0 victory over the Republic of Ireland on Saturday evening.
The Arsenal midfielder opened the scoring for the Three Lions in the 11th minute with a thumping finish from the inside of the penalty area before running towards the crowd and apologetically holding up his hands.
Many questioned the sentiment behind the celebration given that Rice had changed his allegiances from representing Ireland to England during his early years at West Ham. However, the reason was not because he had made three appearances for the Republic prior to his switch.
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In an interview with beIN Sports, Rice revealed that his Irish grandparents were the reason behind the muted celebrations. He explained: “Obviously it was an amazing feeling to score but I was never going to celebrate I have Irish family - my nan and grandad who are not here anymore.
“I think it would have been disrespectful to them if I celebrated. My dad was here as well.
“I just wanted to focus. It was a nice feeling but I wanted to focus on getting back into the game and trying to score more goals so it was positive.”
"I was never going to celebrate. My nan and grandad are not here anymore and I think it would have been disrespectful to them."
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS_EN) September 7, 2024
Declan Rice tells @zmansour75 why he didn't celebrate his goal against the Republic of Ireland.#beINNATIONSLEAGUE #AFC pic.twitter.com/3JJ1cVLHbM
Rice went on to explain that interim England manager Lee Carsley had not spoken with him about the reception he was likely to receive in Dublin due to his internatinoal switch, saying: “No, not at all.
“I think we’ve seen so much stuff recently, this happened six-seven years ago. It’s such along time ago now, I get along really well with a lot of them Irish boys so there’s nothing hard done by by me and obviously the fans feel a certain way and that’s absoultely fine."
Rice wasn’t the only ex-Ireland player to get on the scoresheet at the Aviva Stadium, with Jack Grealish bagging England’s second in the emphatic victory. The Manchester City star represented the Republic up to under-21 level before deciding to make the change whilst on the cusp of the first team.
Similarly, the winger played down the prospect of there being any bad feelings from his side towards the reception from the Ireland supporters. He explained: “Listen, I said before the game it’s different. Me and Dec have nothing bad to say, we both enjoyed our time playing here [in Ireland] I certainly did. I have a lot of Irish in my family so there’s no bad blood whatsoever from my side.”
