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Rice played in three friendlies for the Republic of Ireland in 2018 before settling for England in 2019.
Last update: 05/13/20 12:20 pm
1:06
Former Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy says Declan Rice’s decision to choose England over the Republic of Ireland collapsed like a lead balloon
Former Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy says Declan Rice’s decision to choose England fell like a lead balloon.
The West Ham Rice midfielder, whose grandparents are Irish, played in three friendlies for the Republic of Ireland in 2018 before deciding to commit to his international future with England in February 2019.
He now has seven games with England, and McCarthy, who retired from his position as Ireland’s manager in April, reveals the circumstances behind the decision, including a call to the 21-year-old to apologize for his “short” initial reaction.
When asked by Gary Neville how the decision fell, McCarthy said, “How did it fall? Well, it fell like a lead balloon! He played three games, I think he scored. [in the U21s] and I think he kissed the shirt.
“But players have a choice now. There’s another discussion, if you’ve played once in a full international friendly game, if that’s your Irish, English, Scottish player or whatever? I think it should, once you’ve played in the national team.
Rice played three times in friendlies for the Republic of Ireland senior team
“But if you have a choice, which he had, he played on the West Ham team and started flying.”
“I went to see him and his father, and I have to be honest, I didn’t say it publicly at the time, but I didn’t think he would come with us, I think he was making a mistake playing with England
“I was pretty rough with him at the time, and I had to call him back and say, ‘Listen, I’m sorry, I wish you well, I hope you have a good career with England and West Ham,’ because it’s his choice.
“He never played for me, I was so disappointed that we lost such a good player!”
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