DECLAN RICE SAID that his decision not to celebrate his goal against Ireland was a sign of respect towards his deceased Irish grandparents.
Rice and Jack Grealish were given a hostile reception at a sold-out Aviva Stadium, but silenced the home crowd as their goals steered England to a 2-0 win in the Nations League opener.
Rice, who won three senior caps for Ireland before switching allegiance, opened the scoring on 11 minutes but did not celebrate the goal.
“My nan and granddad, my dad’s side of the family, are all Irish,” he said. “They’ve all passed away, they’re not here any more.
“So, I think to have celebrated would have been really disrespectful of me, with them obviously not being there any more and with them being my dad’s parents. I didn’t want to do that, to be honest.
“I had such an amazing time playing for Ireland, in the first team, the under-19s, -21s. They were great memories that live with me.
“I don’t have a bad word to say, I wish them all the best.”
Interim manager Lee Carsley also had to deal with furore over his decision not to sing ‘God Save the King’, with some even suggesting he is not fit for the England job as a result.
“Is that what’s been (said)?” Rice asked. “I’m not on Twitter or I haven’t got any news apps so I’ve not seen what’s been said about Lee.
“I know he played 40 times for Ireland. That meant a lot to him in his career. Now he’s England manager.
“Obviously, I can’t call for what he wants to do. All I know is that from us, from the set of 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 play and train is really different so I think 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 there was, obviously, we didn’t win a trophy.
“But with Lee now, I think he’s adapted so well to the job.
“He’s given a lot of lads a lot of confidence to go and play. Look at Jack today. I think Jack’s best when he’s got an arm around him and he’s told how good he is.
“I think Lee’s done that this week and Jack went out there, and when Jack’s playing with personality and confidence he’s one of the best players in the world.
“I think that’s what Lee’s going to keep bringing into this team.”
