Declan Rice will have plenty of players – past and present – running through his thoughts when he leads England out as captain for the first time on Tuesday night.
As well as reaching a half-century of caps, Rice will also wear the armband at Wembley in what is England’s final friendly before manager Gareth Southgate names his squad for Euro 2024.
While he has never captained his country, Rice was West Ham skipper as they won the Europa Conference League last season – his final game before a club-record £105million move to Arsenal followed.
He has established himself as one of the best players in the Premier League this season as the Gunners push for the Premier League title and prepare for a Champions League quarter-final against Bayern Munich.
Rice, 25, follows in the footsteps of England’s World Cup winning captain Bobby Moore – who was at West Ham at the time of the 1966 success – and also pointed to the influence of his former Hammers skipper Mark Noble and current Arsenal leader Martin Odegaard.
“I’ve just got to think about everyone along the way who helped me,” he said. “I’ve had one of the best captains in Mark Noble. He’s already text me and I think he’ll be coming to the game tomorrow night.
“People like that, I’ve learned so much from both as a player and person, captain and leader.
“Then when I come to England, seeing players like Harry Kane and Jordan Henderson and how they are around the group. You pick up little things from everyone. And when I got to captain West Ham, I was growing in confidence and as a leader.
“I still see myself going that way. There is Martin Odegaard at my club. I’m not thinking about it, but if anything were to ever happen to him, I really would love to put the armband on for Arsenal.
“I love leading and being captain. It’s a real honour.”
Asked about the links to Moore, Rice added: “Having 10 years at West Ham has shaped me into the person I am today, no doubt.
“It’s a real honour you know. There’s only been a certain amount of people that have captained England. It’s a one-off game, but to be able to put the armband on, it will be really special.”
Rice admitted giving the pre-match team talk would be the part of the evening he looked forward to the least.
“That’s the worst bit! Harry always speaks, then the other night it was (Kyle) Walker,” he added.
“(Kieran) Trippier before – when he was captain – did a funny speech and messed it up and everyone started laughing so I know there is going to be a bit of pressure on me.
“But I’ll keep it short and sweet before the game…make sure everyone’s on it and make sure everyone knows what’s at stake tomorrow night.
“We obviously lost the other night to Brazil at Wembley but now it’s another chance to go out and win a game of football and you don’t ever want to lose two games in a row, especially as England.
“So it’s going to be a big night, so it’s just about relaying that message. We have to start fast and we have to win the game.”
While Rice will no doubt have his full attention on captaining England, Arsenal travel to Manchester City on Sunday in a game which could go a long way to deciding the destination of the Premier League title.
Rice may be fully aware of the gravity of the Easter Day clash – but it does not seem to have resonated with England team-mate and City defender John Stones.
“The first day I came I saw John Stones and he didn’t even know they were playing us next,” he revealed.
“When he’s away from football he likes to be with his family and switch off and I get that, he likes to take one game at a time.
“I said ‘big game next’ and John said ‘who are you playing’? I said ‘we’ve got you lot’! He said ‘oh yeah’. That tells you how much we speak about it when we’re here.
“With Walks (Kyle Walker) he always has a little bit of banter, he’s a great lad. As lads, we have a bit if banter but inside us we know what a big game it’s going to be, a potential title-decider, it’s going to be really tight.”
Hurtig the hero after late goal sends Arsenal into Champions League quarters
Lina Hurtig's 89th minute winner ensured Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women's Champions League after edging Juventus 1-0 on Thursday.
After being frustrated for large parts of the encounter, Hurtig bundled home from close range after Martina Lenzini's poor clearance to book the Gunners' place in the last eight.
Despite Arsenal dominating the early exchanges, it was Juventus who had the first sight of goal, though Eva Schatzer's effort was easy for Daphne van Domselaar to gather.
In a first half that saw just two shots on target, both coming from the visitors, Renee Slegers' substitutes proved to be the difference for Arsenal.
Slegers introduced Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Hurtig late on, with the latter somehow putting Kim Little's cross over the bar from five yards out.
However, the Swede would atone for her earlier error, combining with fellow substitute Blackstenius to net against her former club and send them out of the competition with two group games remaining.
Meanwhile, in Group D, Barcelona edged closer to the quarter-finals of the competition with a convincing 4-1 victory over St. Polten at the Generali Arena.
The reigning champions are still three points behind Manchester City following their 2-1 win over Hammarby, and know a win against the Swedes next month will see them progress.
Kika Nazareth opened the scoring in the 20th minute after capitalising on a mistake by Kamila Dubcova, notching her second nine minutes later from close range.
Barca found themselves three goals up at the break when Vicky Lopez netted her first goal in the competition to put the result beyond doubt.
There was also a landmark moment for Alexia Putellas, who netted her 200th goal for the club with a well-taken effort into the far corner.
Valentina Madl took some of the shine off an otherwise impressive display from the visitors, who have now taken their tally to 20 goals from their four matches in the competition.
Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City
Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.
The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.
Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.
“Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.
That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.
He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.
Shaw at the double as Man City progress in Champions League
Khadija Shaw scored twice as Manchester City beat Hammarby 2-1 to seal their place in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals.
Gareth Taylor's team entered Thursday's game with a perfect record in Group D, and their fourth win in as many European matches ensured they finished in the top two.
Shaw—the leading scorer in the Women's Super League this season with eight goals—put them ahead in the 31st minute, driving into the area after taking in Yui Hasegawa's pass before seeing her shot deflect into the top corner.
Shaw was booked for celebrating in front of the home fans despite appearing to have objects thrown at her from the stands, and Hammarby should have levelled when Julia Blakstad fired wide 10 minutes later.
The hosts did draw level three minutes into the second half as Ellen Wangerheim tapped home while City's Laura Blindkilde Brown was down appealing for a free-kick.
That parity was short-lived, though, as Shaw blasted into the top corner from 25 yards out, taking her overall tally for this season to 12 goals in all competitions.
In Group C, meanwhile, Bayern Munich lost their perfect record as they played out a 1-1 draw with Valerenga, boosting Arsenal's hopes of topping the pile.
Jovana Damnjanovic came off the bench to put Bayern ahead 15 minutes from time in Norway, but Elise Thorsnes headed home following an 88th-minute corner to snatch a point for the hosts.
Arsenal could now move within a point of Bayern when they face Juventus in Group C's other match later on Thursday.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
