Declan Rice, an England midfielder, explained why he decided not to celebrate his goal against Ireland and thought the Dublin crowd had good right to jeer at him.

 

With a first-time finish inside the area, Rice gave England the lead in the eleventh minute.

 

Nevertheless, despite being surrounded by his teammates, the Arsenal player raised his hands in an apparent apology gesture.

 

Rice changed his national team from Ireland to England in February 2019, thus it was a goal that had been in the works for almost five years.

 

Before the switch, Rice played for Ireland in three friendlies but declined more calls to the national team, choosing to play for the Three Lions.

 

 

Rice refused to celebrate after scoring the opener for England against Ireland in Dublin

In the eleventh minute, the midfield player crashed home a first-time attempt inside the area.

 

Since then, Rice has had the chance to compete in two European Championship finals and a World Cup quarterfinal that he would not have had if he had stayed in Ireland.

 

 

 

However, the 25-year-old declared he would “never” rejoice in opposition to the country he had previously represented and provided a heartfelt explanation for his stance.

 

 

 

After the game, Rice told beIN Sports, “Obviously, it was an amazing feeling to score, but I was never going to celebrate.”

 

 

 

My family is from Ireland. I believe that celebrating would have been insulting to my late parents, my grandmother and grandfather. My father was also present.

 

 

 

“Obviously, it felt good to score, but my main goal now was to get back into the game and try to score more goals.”

 

 

 

In contrast to his England colleague and former Ireland youth international Jack Grealish, Rice celebrated quietly.

 

 

 

Grealish scored England’s second goal, but he was far too eager to celebrate his goal despite playing for Ireland at the under-17, under-18, and under-21 levels.

 

 

 

Irish fans expressed their displeasure with the two by booing them at every move and waving flags with images of snakes and Rice’s face on them.

 

Rice revealed he did not celebrate because it would have been disrespectful to his family

 

Jack Grealish, who had played for Ireland in the past, was only too delighted to celebrate his goal.

 

Before the game, Rice disclosed that he and Grealish had not discussed the reception they anticipated.

 

But Rice believed Irish fans had the right to respond anyway they liked, regardless of how much time had gone since he changed international allegiances.

 

Rice remarked, “I think we’ve seen so much stuff lately.”

 

About six or seven years ago, this occurred. It seems like such a long time ago. I have a great relationship with most of the Irish boys. Nothing difficult was done by me.

 

It’s obvious that the fans have certain feelings, and that’s perfectly okay.