Declan Rice has been managing nerve pain in a hamstring since Christmas – and admitted the “obscene” number of matches he has played this season forced him off during England’s World Cup opener.
The Arsenal midfielder was substituted in the 72nd minute of England’s 4-2 win over Croatia last Wednesday, sparking concern among fans. The problem relates to his upper hamstring, with the pain radiating into his lower back. But Rice described the substitution as “smart” and insisted he will be “fighting fit” for England’s second group game against Ghana in Boston on Tuesday.
“Declan Rice reveals nerve pain in hamstring since Christmas; says schedule 'obscene' but he's fit for Ghana.”
“I’m ready and fit, raring to go,” he told ITV Sport. “I was feeling a little bit of neural pain in my hamstring, which I was managing from after Christmas with Arsenal for a very long time. Obviously, not a lot of people would have known that. It was all behind-the-scenes stuff but it was a smart decision.”
Rice has played 63 matches this season – 55 for Arsenal and eight for England – as his club reached the Champions League and Carabao Cup finals, winning the Premier League. “It’s an obscene amount of games,” he said. “The schedule was crazy but what can we do about it? You can’t sit and complain. We have to just get on with it for the moments like I had in the Premier League, winning that Premier League. You know you’d play as many games as possible to have that feeling again and knowing that there’s a World Cup at the end of it as well. You know you’d put your body on the line.”
His Arsenal teammate Bukayo Saka is also managing a lingering Achilles problem, highlighting the demands on players.
England began a hot-weather acclimatisation camp in Florida at the start of June. The Croatia game was played in Dallas’s domed, air-conditioned stadium at 22C. Happily, it is forecast to be similar in Boston’s open-air stadium for the 4pm local kick-off (9pm BST). Rice said the players have been reassured by Thomas Tuchel that they have the conditioning to adapt.
But with the nerve pain still a factor, and the schedule relentless, the question is whether Rice can sustain his form through the knockout stages – especially if temperatures rise. For now, he is ready: “In the end, that last 20 minutes is probably where you pick up the most, and it’s where you play a 70-minute match. But that last 20 is where you really feel your body going for it. And I think it was a smart decision because the last few days I felt really, really good.”