DECLAN RICE cannot wait to get cracking at Scotland – because he thinks it will be one of the biggest matches he ever plays in his career.
Rice is only at the start of a journey which could see him take part in some of the highest profile matches in football.
But the West Ham midfielder knows Friday’s battle between the Three Lions and their Auld Enemy has extra importance purely because of the national rivalry between the countries and the fans.
The Euro 96 game between the teams still gets talked about now, and Rice believes this could be just as big in the history of matches between the two sides.
The 22-year-old said: “When you look back on your career at the end, the game on Friday will probably go down as one of the top three you will ever play.
“We know the history with Scotland. We know the type of game it will be.
“After tonight, we travelled back and had a laugh amongst the lads and enjoyed it. Then we want to focus on the Scotland game and repeat the same performance.”
England’s 1-0 win over Croatia on Sunday not only got the team off to the best possible start, it also made some sit up and take notice of just how strong Gareth Southgate’s side can be.
All the talk has been of the attacking threat the team possesses, but there were question marks going into the tournament about the defence and also if the Three Lions were good enough in midfield at the highest level.
Despite shining for the Hammers many have still questioned whether Rice is actually as good as some claim, while Kalvin Phillips had been seen as something of a next-best option with Jordan Henderson.
Indeed, even Croatia highlighted that area of the pitch as where they would achieve dominance – confident Luka Modric, Mateo Kovacic and Marcelo Brozovic were superior in every department.
What they didn’t know that in the week before kick-off, Southgate had hatched a plan and tactics which would see Rice, Phillips and Mason Mount set up in a triangle that would be so decisive.
Three years after losing control in midfield to cost them the World Cup semi-final, the Three Lions produced a midfield display to suggest that can be truly competitive at the highest level of international football.
Rice added: “We didn’t want to comment too much before the game, we just wanted to go out and show what we could do.
“We’ve been working on me, Mase and Kalv, our distances and Mase and Kalv pressing while I sit just behind them and let them express themselves and have the freedom to do what they want.
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“And I think it worked really well. There we spells where Croatia had the ball and we had to sit in, me Mase, Kalv, it was outstanding, it worked really well with them.
“We knew we had to be at the top level. I would have backed myself a few years ago to go out and perform at a high level but maybe had some doubts.
“Fortunately, I’ve been able to do it it since after the season and performances that I have had with England recently I had full confidence to go out there and perform at a high standard.
“I think everyone was on it. We were unlucky not to be 1-0 up from Phil’s shot, we had some other chances and Raheem scored a great goal.
“I thought everyone was top and that made the difference.”
Pre-tournament, Southgate had been highly critical of the poor press from his players in the friendly against Austria, and now we know why.
It may even have been one of the reasons behind the decision to leave Jadon Sancho out of the matchday 23, because he had concerns about him doing his defensive work properly against such dangerous opponents in Croatia.
The stats from the match are telling – the barnstorming Phillips covered 10.34km with Rice just behind him on 10.11. No Croat midfielder even made it to 9km.
Southgate found a balance to his midfield which saw his players put in a shift but never look overrun, something which has often been a criticism of England in tournament football.
The doubters discovered Rice can perform against the very best on his own at the base of a midfield, while Phillips can be the real deal rather than next best.
There seems little chance Southgate will mess with things against the Scots, and Rice says they will need to be just as physical if they are to see off Steve Clarke’s side and seal qualification for the last-16.
He added: “They’ve got some top players who play in the Premier League.
“Che Adams, McGinn and Scott McTominay in the middle are two warriors and Andy Robertson and Tierney at the back are great leaders and players.
“We are not going into it and say it is going to be easy because that will be wrong. They are going to come and be physical and we need to match that and do more.
“We need to be ready and we will be ready.”
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
