Tribal Football

Arsenal midfielder Rice explains rejecting England captaincy

Paul Vegas
Arsenal midfielder Rice explains rejecting England captaincy
Arsenal midfielder Rice explains rejecting England captaincyAction Plus
Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice explained turning down the England captaincy during their Nations League win against the Republic of Ireland.

Rice, who played for Ireland as a youth teamer, scored in the 2-0 victory.

Advertisement
Advertisement

He said post-match: "(Harry) Kane tried to give me the armband but Stonesy (John Stones) is more senior and experienced than me. I just said to Harry, 'Probably John deserves it more than me. I said to give it to John.'

"That was it. It doesn't need to be made into a bigger thing. John is one of the more senior ones.

"Usually he is captain when Harry doesn't play so it was the right decision."