MX23RW : Thursday, December 19 02:20:01| >> :600:313274:313274:

A closer look at new England midfielder Declan Rice

A closer look at new England midfielder Declan Rice
© Reuters
Rice has three caps for the Republic of Ireland but his international allegiance switch to England was approved by FIFA last week.

West Ham midfielder Declan Rice has been called up to the England squad for the first time for the forthcoming Euro 2020 Qualifiers.

Gareth Southgate has picked the 20-year-old in his squad for England's games against the Czech Republic and Montenegro later this month.

Here, Press Association Sport takes a look at Rice's career so far.

West Ham debut

Having been included in a couple of matchday squads towards the end of the 2016-17 season, Rice made his senior debut against Burnley at Turf Moor on the final day of that campaign – coming on as a stoppage-time substitute in a 2–1 win. His full senior debut came at the beginning of the following season in a 3–2 defeat at Southampton.

First goal

Rice scored his first career goal two days before his 20th birthday on January 12 this year to fire West Ham to a 1-0 home win over Arsenal. He struck three minutes into the second half, when Granit Xhaka made a mess of clearing a cross and Samir Nasri tapped the ball to Rice, who gleefully curled it home.

Ireland award

Republic of Ireland v Israel – 2019 UEFA Under 21 Qualifying – Group Five – Tallaght Stadium
Declan Rice made his debut for Republic of Ireland against Turkey in March 2018 (Niall Carson/PA)

Rice was named Republic of Ireland's young player of the year on Tuesday — despite no longer representing them. The midfielder decided in February that his international future lies with England, even though he has Irish grandparents and has already received three Republic of Ireland caps at senior level. His switch was ratified by FIFA last week and England manager Southgate has included Rice in his squad at the first opportunity.

ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Press Association Sport Staff');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', '24115e42-f41c-4748-814f-21b671fa9ff5');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:football,paservice:sport:uk,paservice:sport:world');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'A closer look at new England midfielder Declan Rice'});

ID:353269: cacheID:353269:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:5990:
Written by
P A
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Declan Rice celebrates scoring for West Ham United against Newcastle United on March 2, 2019
Read Next:
Rice to get England call after being named Ireland's best young player
>
Read more about Declan Rice Football
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool15113131131836
2Chelsea16104237191834
3Arsenal1686229151430
4Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest168442119228
5Manchester CityMan City168352823527
6Bournemouth167452421325
7Aston Villa167452425-125
8Fulham166642422224
9Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton166642625124
10Tottenham HotspurSpurs1672736191723
11Brentford167273230223
12Newcastle UnitedNewcastle166552321223
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd166462119222
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham165472129-819
15Crystal Palace163761721-416
16Everton153661421-715
17Leicester CityLeicester163582134-1314
18Ipswich TownIpswich162681628-1212
19Wolverhampton WanderersWolves1623112440-169
20Southampton1612131136-255


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!