Declan Rice shares incredible throwback snap with Harry Kane from 2014 after starring for England alongside him - 7M sport

Declan Rice shares incredible throwback snap with Harry Kane from 2014 after starring for England alongside him



Posted Wednesday, March 27, 2019 by Thesun.co.uk

DECLAN RICE has shared a throwback photo with captain Harry Kane after a week in which the West Ham star began his senior England career.

The 20-year-old made his first Three Lions appearances - including his maiden competitive start - in the opening Euro 2020 qualifying wins over Czech Republic and Montenegro.

Declan Rice shares incredible throwback snap with Harry Kane from 2014 after starring for England alongside him
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Gareth Southgate rewarded Rice for his fine West Ham form just a month after he switched his allegiance from the Republic of Ireland, for whom he had previously made three outings in friendlies.

After replacing Dele Alli for the final 27 minutes against the Czechs at Wembley last Friday, he played the full 90 minutes of the 5-1 success in Podgorica - a game overshadowed by the racist abuse directed towards a number of England players.

Having benefited from Eric Dier's withdrawal from the squad, Rice was particularly impressive at the Podgorica City Stadium, though bigger tests against more established opponents are still to come.

He is now expected to play a central role for the national team and could now be involved in next summer's European Championships.

It caps a remarkable rise for the midfielder, who has used Twitter to outline how seismic his assent has been.

In two separate images posted on social media, Rice is pictured on both occasions with skipper Kane, the first taken in 2014 and the second in the wake of the win on Monday.

A message alongside the pictures read: "From asking Harry Kane for a picture in 2014, to my England teammate in 2019. What a journey!"

RICE TO THE OCCASION
It is clear the back-to-back internationals will live long in the memory of Rice, regardless of what he goes on to achieve in his England career.

He explained: "To get the win, 5-1; to get the start - I've loved every minute of it. I have been training well and obviously with Eric Dier's injury as well that gave me that chance.

"I loved every minute of it. From the start, singing the national anthem. You just can't describe it.

"I knew on Sunday [that I was going to start]. The game face was on and I knew I had to be focused on what lie ahead.

"I played the same role as I do at West Ham. I am not one of those who goes running around everywhere.

"I sit in front of the back four, make my tackles, make my interceptions and keep it easy and pop the ball off. It is simple but effective.

"At times, they were hard to break down and it was frustrating. We had to just keep moving it side to side and we managed to break them down in the end."



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