At last I look forward to wearing the shirt, says Rose
When Danny Rose returned from Euro 2016, he did not want to leave his house, pop to the shops or eat out in public. And when the Premier League season started, like the rest of Tottenham Hotspur’s England players, he was booed up and down the country.
But it was not just the Iceland defeat that left Rose pondering whether international football was all it is cracked up to be.
Even in victory, the England team were faced by a mixture of criticism and apathy. Rose has had to be content with a bit-part in Russia. But the experience has left him enthusiastic about playing for England again.
Having stood in front of England fans on Wednesday hailing Gareth Southgate and his squad despite defeat, Rose said: “That scene at the end was very emotional and I cannot believe I am looking forward to putting an English shirt on again because a few years ago, I did not see that happening.
“I am not going to lie, it was not enjoyable considering whether we won or lost we’d still get battered and it has changed over a period of six weeks. I want to get back playing week-in, week-out and want to get playing for England again.”
Rose made an appearance as an extra-time substitute against Croatia and now wants to make the left wing-back place his own in time for the 2020 European Championship, a tournament he believes England can win.
“I am 28 now and I don’t know if this was going to be my last tournament as the squad is getting younger and younger, but I have to look here at Ashley Young playing all the games,” he said.
“He is 32 or 33 and has given me hope this is not my last tournament and I am looking forward to going to the Euros and, hopefully, going to another World Cup as this experience has been amazing.”
Fabian Delph let his team-mates know what they might be in store for when they return to England, having made a trip home for the birth of his daughter.
But Rose is unsure how he will cope with a hero’s reception. “The manager said at the end of the game that we have to remember the feeling from two years ago at the Euros,” said Rose. “Everyone had really turned on us and rightly so.
“We left the pitch [in Moscow] with the fans chanting for us and we have seen the scenes from previous games, and we know we have managed to turn the opinions from two years ago.
“It will be strange going back home. Fabian Delph said he was going to the shop, and he could not go anywhere. The fans were cheering us on. It will be surreal, considering I went home two years ago and wanted to keep my head down and stay out of the way. It will be very different.
“Personally, I don’t like the attention but, obviously, I will welcome it if it is positive and it shows the work we have done has paid off. I am looking forward to it.”
Rose believes much of the credit for the way England have managed to reconnect with the public should go to Southgate.
“We have had a lot of meetings about how to change people’s perceptions. To have a bond with the media and the fans. We have managed to turn a corner.”