Arsenal star Declan Rice is set to start for England in the Euro 2024 final against Spain, and he will hope to conquer his past demons.
This will be Rice’s second International final, having also started in the defeat to Italy at Wembley Stadium in Euro 2024, in which England drew 1-1 and lost on penalties.
Rice will line up alongside his Arsenal teammate Bukayo Saka, with Aaron Ramsdale on the bench for England and David Raya on the bench for Spain.
The 25-year-old delivered a rare poor performance against The Netherlands in the semi-final, but he knows that he has the quality to perform at the highest level, and he faces a tough game against Spain.
Declan Rice admits Euro 2020 final still haunts him
Rice will hope to use the experience of losing a final with England to help him against Spain, and speaking in an interview with The Guardian, he revealed that the pain of losing to Italy has stuck with him.
“Seeing Italy lift that trophy will haunt me for ever,” Rice stated.
“We know what we have to do compared to last time, in terms of how to control the game, not to sit back like we did in previous tournaments and when Italy came on to us. We know how we can win this final.”
Declan Rice will need to win midfield battle vs Spain
The 2020 final saw Rice and Kalvin Phillips lose the midfield battle vs Italy, with eventual Arsenal teammate Jorginho showing his class on the ball as he dictated the game with his passing.
This is an area of Rice’s game which has been criticised, but given that he will come up against Manchester City star Rodri, he knows he has a tough midfield battle ahead.
Rice cannot afford to lose the midfield battle and let Spain control the flow of the game, but as one of the best ball-winners in the world, if he is able to disrupt them as much as possible, he can help England pull off a shock victory.
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