Declan Rice says England are “feeling the love” after dragging the nation back on side on their rollercoaster run to the Euro 2024 final, as he challenged his teammates to shed their tag as a nearly team by finally emulating the heroes of 1966.
England meet Spain in Sunday’s Berlin showpiece, looking to end the country’s 58-year wait for a men’s major tournament success.
Making it even this far looked unlikely when Gareth Southgate’s side were stumbling through the group stage amid a barrage of criticism, with the manager peppered with plastic cups following the 0-0 draw with Slovenia and former England striker Gary Lineker dubbing the team’s performances “s***”.
After steady improvement through the knockout stage, and a series of dramatic late victories, however, the country is once again united behind the national team and Rice heaped praise on manager Southgate for weathering the storm.
“I can’t speak highly enough of Gareth, he deserves it more than anyone,” the Arsenal midfielder said. “After the group stage it was tough. The boos, people chucking stuff on the pitch. The way he reacted with us after that, how calm he was even if he was feeling a different way, he made us feel calm.
“It felt like some people were saying negative stuff for the sake of it. Now it’s changed in a way, which is really good. We respect everyone, all the ex-players who’ve put on an England shirt because they’re part of that history as well.
“Now we’re feeling the love, feeling that confidence. Just keep with us, one more game and hopefully we can do something special and make memories for you all forever.”
After a dismal run that had seen England go two decades without a major tournament semi-final, Southgate has transformed the Three Lions into perennial contenders during his eight-year tenure, reaching back-to-back Euros finals, as well as the last-four of the 2018 World Cup.
After those near misses - including the heartbreaking penalty shootout defeat to Italy at Wembley three years ago - however, Rice believes the onus is now on England to turn their progress into silverware.
“English football is on a great path but it’s now time to show we can win,” he said. “Nations like Spain have been there and won European Championships, won finals. They get that respect because they’ve done it in big moments.
“We’ve got to the big moments and not quite done it since 1966. Now’s a great chance for us as players and us as a nation to take that next step and become champions.
“To win this with England would top anything you could win in your career. You could go on to win anything but winning with your country is something that can’t be topped.”
Rice revealed he has been in touch with club manager Mikel Arteta during the tournament, with Arsenal’s Spanish boss taking divided loyalties into a final that will also see Bukayo Saka and Aaron Ramsdale line up against the country of his birth.
“We had a phone call the other day, spoke for about ten minutes,” Rice said. “That was good, it was nice to speak to him, I hadn’t spoke to him since the end of season. Then he text the other night saying ‘Vamos!’ when we got to the final.
“He’ll be split obviously because he’s Spanish but he’s got boys in the England squad as well. But he did wish me all the best so I was happy with that.”
Rice also told of being inspired by the Arsenal stars like Leah Williamson and Beth Mead who helped lead England to glory in the Women’s Euros two years ago.
“We saw when the women won it, what it meant to them and the nation,” the 25-year-old added. “I’m lucky enough now to see a lot the girls in the Arsenal squad that won it and to this day they talk about it.
“That’s what we want now as a men’s team. We want to win, making the nation proud, make the fans proud and create our own little bit of history.”
