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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Nizaar Kinsella

England fired by revenge for Wales’ Euros celebrations in World Cup 2022 showdown, says Declan Rice

Declan Rice says England are fired up for a revenge mission against Wales at the World Cup.

England players go into tonight’s ‘Battle of Britain’ spurred on by the infamous leaked video of Wales players celebrating England's humiliating Euro 2016 defeat by Iceland.

Rice says memories of Gareth Bale and the Wales squad in that video have given England extra motivation to knock their rivals out of the World Cup.

“I wasn’t in the squad then but of course you hear stuff like that and it definitely fires you up,” said Rice.

“England versus Wales is a massive, whether it is a friendly or at a major tournament. If you cannot get up for that you cannot get up for any game of football. We will ready and we want to do our talking on the pitch.”

Wales players Kieffer Moore and Sorba Thomas had also both said they would relish the chance to knock out England, who now have a chance to turn the tables on their rivals.

Asked if he would show his England players that clip or pin up comments made by Wales in the dressing room ahead of kick-off tonight, Gareth Southgate smiled and said: “I couldn't say! We are aware of some of that, but I couldn't say if we would use it or not.”

Wales must beat England for the first time since 1984 to stand any chance of reaching the last-16, while England need a win to seal top spot in Group B.

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