Declan Rice showed his true colours following England's 2-0 win over Albania. The 26-year-old midfielder played a crucial role in that victory at Wembley Stadium on Friday night, kick-starting the Three Lions' World Cup qualifying campaign with three important points.
Myles Lewis-Skelly broke the deadlock inside the opening half an hour before Harry Kane doubled the lead. Aged just 18 years and 176 days, the Arsenal defender became the youngest ever player to score on their England debut, surpassing Marcus Rashford, who did so at 18 years and 209 days against Australia in May 2016.
Speaking to ITV Sport post-match, Rice was quizzed on Lewis-Skelly's impressive performance. Showing his true colours, the Gunners midfielder said: "One word you can use for him is fearless.
"He does everything right off the pitch. He prepares himself. He's only 18. I try to look after him as best I can, but I knew he was going to play like that because of the confidence he has in himself, and the way that he's trained all week, and what I've seen at the club, and how he is around the club.
"His mum, his dad, everyone, and his brothers, they should be so proud of him because his rise this year has been unreal. And he's kept his feet on the ground. This is only the start for him so he's got to keep going."
Then, on England's overall performance, Rice said: "It's only been four days of training together. We need to keep working, need to keep getting used to what he wants from us. Obviously, Albania sat in a low block.
"It's hard to break it down, but you've got to keep going. And to win in the boss' first game is a real positive and getting off to a good start in the group is what we wanted. So, look, there's things to improve on but all round a positive night."
Then, when the ITV Sport interview told Lewis-Skelly to get his shirt signed and framed, he replied: "Ah, yeah, I'll have to."
To which Rice jumped in and said: "Don't Ebay it!"
Speaking on ITV Sports at half-time, Roy Keane also piled praise on Lewis-Skelly. The former Manchester United captain said: "You've got to take risks in this game. I thought it was an absolutely brilliant goal. I thought that the pass, the weight of the pass, the timing of the run, the finish from your full-back.
"I thought that was fantastic. Even the timing here, just be patient. You need runners off the ball, this is what you need. It's sounds easy when you're sitting here, but you've also got to make the right pass.
"The timing has to be right, the run, the finish - I thought it was a brilliant goal."
Ian Wright went on: "I'm really pleased for him because that's what he can do. He's been overlapping, he's been underlapping, linking the play, and for him to make to be aware enough to be on that. Watching what Jude Bellingham is doing there and making sure he's got in after that and staying on side. It's what he's capable of doing."
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Arsenal Manager Mikel Arteta, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Jesus with the Arsenal Therapy Dog Win during the Arsenal Men's team group shoot at London Colney on September 18, 2023
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