A man purporting to work for a Baltic sports agency had found his way into the mixed zone at the Daugava Stadium on Tuesday night and started shouting all manner of bizarre questions about the ‘Latvian lads’ at Declan Rice as he stood talking to journalists.
Rice blinked back the questions with a broad if slightly puzzled smile and waited for the man to be removed before he carried on as if nothing had happened. Rice is good at that. He has become such an accomplished and composed player that nothing seems to disturb his style.
He thought for a moment about what his expectations were for the World Cup next summer now that England had sealed their qualification for the tournament with a crushing 5-0 victory over the home team in Riga. Maybe he was wary of being accused of being over-confident but he chose his words well.
‘We want to win it,’ he said. ‘That’s going to be a bold statement but we’re England and we have world class players all over the pitch. If we didn’t think like that, I think that would be weak mentality from us.
‘We all want to win the World Cup, we’d all love that, to get our hands on that in our career. You see so many of the best players in the world, they’ve won that in the past, and what it meant to them. There’s a long way to go and it’s just about building to that moment.’
Rice is having a fine season at the heart of Arsenal’s midfield and has led them to the top of the Premier League as they prepare for Saturday evening’s clash against Fulham at Craven Cottage. Others talk about him openly as the finest midfielder in the division and he is one of the first names on Thomas Tuchel’s teamsheet.
Declan Rice has urged that England fully believe they can win the World Cup next summer
Thomas Tuchel's Three Lions qualified for the tournament with a superb 5-0 win over Latvia
The Arsenal star has established himself as one of the leaders in the England dressing room
‘I feel probably the fittest I’ve ever been at this stage of the season,’ Rice said. ‘I just feel really strong. When you’re confident in football, that’s one of the main things. I’ve had that for the last few years, I’ve felt really confident in my game.
‘I’m more confident within the group, too. I feel like one of the senior England players now. I think it took me a few years in this England team to get to that stage but tonight was cap 70 for me. So it’s going so quickly. I’m still only 26 you know.
‘I just need to keep going, keep playing well. I’m in the leadership group, the lads ask me for opinions, I’m really close with the younger guys here, and obviously I get on really well with the older guys. It’s good to bridge the gap between the two. I just want to do everything I can to help the team as we look towards next summer.’