The question was put to Declan Rice: what memento would he choose for winning Euro 2024? Perhaps, like some of his teammates, he could get on board with the idea of a celebratory tattoo. Maybe a radical deployment of hair dye could bring something snazzier and less permanent. Instead Rice reached straight for the deadpan. “I don’t want to jinx anything because I feel like we’ve done that in the World Cup and the last Euros,” he said. “When things don’t go your way you end up thinking: ‘Why did we speak about things before they even happen?’ One more game, then we can talk about silly haircuts and tattoos.”
Rice did not want to appear a killjoy or, as he put it, “be robotic”. England have been burned before. They are so close now and it owes plenty to the drive and relentless focus of a player who sets the tempo in Gareth Southgate’s engine room. “With me, what you see is what you get,” he said. There is certainly no danger of him hiding. He carries himself like a captain and speaks with the authority of someone who has watched, listened, studied and thought.
One of Rice’s benefits is that, if there are ever occasions when he is off key in possession, his ability to create a platform for those around him remains constant. That was certainly the case on Wednesday against the Netherlands, when Kobbie Mainoo’s outstanding display benefited in no small part from his partner’s willingness to cover every blade of grass. Nobody has run further than Rice at this tournament and it caught the attention to hear him say that, if anything, he feels more sprightly than in the earlier stages of this seven-game marathon.
“In the first couple of games I was feeling more tired than I am now,” he said. “The adrenaline kicks in more as the games ramp up. You get that extra bit of energy, extra bit of fire. On Sunday, all of us will run through brick walls, do anything to win this game. Whether that’s in 90 minutes, 120, we’ll give it absolutely everything. That’s all we can ask of each other.”
The natural assumption, in a final where control of the ball in midfield feels decisive, may be that Rice’s match-up with Rodri presents the defining contest. “We constantly get compared to each other but I think we’re completely different players,” he said, agreeing about the location of the battleground if not the likeness. “The midfield battle will be key.
“I’ve been playing a bit more attacking at Arsenal, he’s been more of a defensive midfielder. I started my career as a centre-back. He’s a born-and-bred Spanish holding midfielder. If you look at the best who’ve played there – Xabi Alonso, Sergio Busquets – they play it the best that you can. I’ve had to learn it, to try and adapt, ask questions, try to improve myself daily.”
Rice spoke eloquently and at length about the “numbers game” involved in attempting to dominate midfield, which he feels they lost against Italy in 2021. He believes England have found the right balance since switching to a 3-4-2-1 system against Switzerland. “We’ve had much better control,” he said. “We passed the ball really well, we’ve been a lot more fluid between the lines. We’ve been calm and composed. I think we’re all really confident that we can improve on the last final and show that we have learned what’s needed to win a final.”
The pain of three years ago at Wembley is a consistent theme of the discussion, and one that Rice has addressed fully in the past. “Seeing Italy walk up at our home stadium and lift that trophy is something that lives with you,” he said upon being reminded again. But he also explained that, before the team set off for Germany, Southgate took pains to plant more positive images in their minds.
“We had a meeting at St George’s Park and he put up special moments: when England won the Ashes, won the Rugby World Cup, how everyone gathered round in London. There were pictures of what it would be like, just to get that feel of how we could impact a nation.”
England’s players are, to a man, fiercely protective of Southgate. It is not just for show. The manager has shown the public his vulnerable side at times in recent weeks but the squad have seen his human touch every day. “He deserves it more than anyone,” Rice said. “The England job is one of the most scrutinised jobs in the world. After the group stage it was tough, the boos, people chucking stuff on the pitch. You have to see that and be calm in those moments. 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. Now we’re feeling the love, feeling that confidence.”
His club manager, Mikel Arteta, was promptly in touch with a teasing “Vamos!” when the finalists’ identities were confirmed. The pair spoke for 10 minutes earlier in the week; Rice has kicked on at Arsenal and he recalled how mixing with their England Women contingent at the training ground, and hearing about their experiences of European Championship success, had contributed further to his hunger.
That appetite has ramped up to the maximum in Blankenhain, where England spent a final day on Friday before travelling to Berlin and looking to shape their destiny. Discussions around bleach and body art may be hours away. “I’ve never seen a group so motivated,” he said. “English football is on a great path but it’s now time to show we can win. We’ve got to the big moments and not quite done it since 1966. Now is a great chance for us as players, and us as a nation, to take that next step and become champions.”
