In a recent match that saw England secure a 2-0 victory over the Republic of Ireland, both Jack Grealish and Declan Rice were booed from the crowd.
Despite this, Grealish clarified there was no ill feeling on his part towards Ireland.
Both players found the net in the first 26 minutes with Rice netting the opener, though he chose not to celebrate, given his past association with Ireland.
Grealish, on the other hand, celebrated his goal despite having played for the Ireland U-21 team.
In a post-match interview with ITV, Grealish addressed the crowd’s reaction, saying, “Yeah, I think it was what me and Dec expected,” adding with a broad grin,
“Me and Dec both enjoyed our time playing here. I certainly did. I have a lot of Irish in my family, so there’s no bad blood whatsoever from my side.”
Meanwhile, Rice reflected on the day’s achievement: “It was a really good afternoon. Obviously, it was the manager’s first game and a win.
In the Nations League, we’re in the league below where we wanna be, so we know how important it is to win this group.
To come here today and win, I think it was really important, and to score alongside Jack, it was a really nice feeling as well.”
Lee Carsley, the caretaker manager, skillfully avoided addressing the topic of Rice and Grealish’s international allegiance.
Instead, he chose to praise the quality of their play: “They were both really well-worked moves, brilliant finishes.
I think they could both, moving forward, add more goals to their game.”
As he prepares for the upcoming match against Finland at Wembley, Carsley reflected on the overall performance: “I thought it was good in parts. You’ve seen some of the things that we’ve tried to do.”
He also credited the squad for their efforts: “The lads have got to take a lot of the credit, all of the credit.
We’ve shown that we’ve got some real talent, and really pleased with the clean sheet, too… I wouldn’t call it my style or my way of playing [but] running forward, trying to get in pockets, they did really well.”
Article updated 2 months ago. Content is written and modified by multiple authors.
