Rice thinks ‘crazy’ experience of first tournament finals won’t sink in for years

Declan Rice admits he may not be able to comprehend how well his Euro 2020 tournament has gone until he hangs up his boots.

The West Ham midfielder has been a key part of the England side which has reached a semi-final against Denmark. Rice, who previously represented Ireland at every level but did not play a full competitive international before switching allegiance, revealed he has started talking to talk show host and West Ham supporter James Corden and that the comedian made him realise he has not understood how big the tournament has been for England fans.

"Since the Scotland game I speak to James Corden quite a bit, we Facetime each other," the 22-year-old told the Official England Podcast.

"He was with Mark Noble at the Germany game so I spoke to them after and they were buzzing.

"There are people who don't even like football or don't sit down and watch it and now it is a ritual to lock in and watch the games in this tournament. James Corden said to me, 'do you actually understand what you are doing?' and I don't really.

"It has not hit me yet and even when the tournament has finished it probably won't hit me until my career finishes.

"We don't want to get ahead of ourselves but we know what is ahead of us and hopefully we can achieve a massive dream."

It is not just celebrities who have been getting in touch with Rice as he told how his phone was swamped with messages following the 2-0 win over Germany in the last16 clash.

"It is crazy," he said of the amount of well-wishes and congratulations.

"After the Germany game I turned my phone on and my Whatsapp had 197 unread messages. It took me a good three or four days to reply to everyone.

"I spoke to my mum afterwards, I said 'I haven't even read your message' and she told me she should be first!

"Everyone's phone has blown up, it is my first tournament but now I'm here it is crazy."