Declan Rice Confirms Fitness After Croatia Win
Declan Rice eased fears over his fitness after limping out of England’s 4-2 win over Croatia, insisting his withdrawal was nothing more than a precaution despite a worrying few minutes on the touchline.
The midfielder, who had already supplied an assist for Harry Kane, signalled to the bench midway through the second half in Arlington after feeling discomfort. Moments later he was trudging off, clearly in pain, with Reece James sent on in an improvised midfield role.
On the face of it, it looked ominous. Rice has been carrying issues since the end of Arsenal’s season, when he required injections to get through the final weeks of a title and Champions League chase. The sight of him reaching for his lower back and hamstring set alarm bells ringing.
His manager, though, moved quickly and decisively.
“Declan had some unusual ball losses and I saw a bit of discomfort,” the German said in his post-match press conference. “Then I asked him and he pointed directly to his lower back and upper hamstring, that he feels the discomfort. I didn't want to take any risks and if I take Declan off, which I never want to do, it was the moment to protect.
“I think Reece James did so well to replace him in midfield, he did a fantastic game. I hope it's nothing more, Declan just reassured me at the end ‘it's good, it's good’ and I know the discomfort, we will take care of it. It's nothing big to worry about.”
Rice backed that up minutes later, strolling through media duties with the relaxed air of a man who expects to be back straight away.
“All good, good as gold,” he told ITV. “Just what I’ve been nursing probably in the second half of the season, little pains here and there, but I’m all good. I'm all fine, just precaution and I’ll be back out there against Ghana.”
If his fitness dominated the post-match chatter, the game itself swung on what happened in the dressing room at half-time.
England had been dragged into a chaotic first period, the score level and the performance patchy despite long spells of possession. The defending for the goals conceded grated. The tempo wasn’t quite right. There was a sense of a team playing within itself.
Then came the reset.
Half-Time Message
Kane lifted the lid on the message that changed the night.
“He told us to take the shackles off, calm down and let’s go,” the captain revealed. “He said what’s the worst that can happen? Show the world who we can be.
“We came out in the second half full gas and they couldn’t live with it, and that’s the level we have to set in every game. The way we controlled the game once we went ahead, we never really looked like we were in danger and then scored on the counterattack. We had a spell where we could have scored three or four. Credit to everyone: the first game of the tournament and a great result against a tough side.”
The response after the interval was exactly that: full gas.
England pushed higher, pressed with conviction and played with a snap that had been missing. The ball moved quicker. The duels became more ferocious. Croatia, who had traded blows before the break, suddenly looked second best all over the pitch.
Jude Bellingham and Marcus Rashford applied the finish to that shift in attitude, both finding the net as the Three Lions took control of Group L. The scoreline might have been even heavier but for a standout performance from the Croatian goalkeeper, who kept the contest alive far longer than his defence deserved.
Rice, watching the closing stages after his withdrawal, liked what he saw.
“I think obviously the first half probably felt worse than what it was just because of the manner of the goals we conceded,” he said. “We had a lot of the ball, but I think in the second half you see that punch, that desire from the first minute.
“There was that extra spring in our step, the press, our strength, the way we went forward, the way we created chances in the second half, and the keeper had a worldie. So, yeah, all round I think it was a great performance.”
A key midfielder nursing a long-running niggle, a manager unafraid to act early, a captain demanding that this becomes the standard. England leave Arlington with three points, four goals and their fate in their own hands.
Now the question is simple: can they bottle that second-half version of themselves and uncork it again against Ghana?
