Declan Rice Wants England Teammates To Take Inspiration From Lionesses’ 2020 Triumph Ahead Of Euro 2024 Final

Berlin: Midfielder Declan Rice has called for his England teammates to take inspiration from the Lionesses team that won the European Championship two years ago. England are on quest for their maiden Euro title when they take on Spain in the final on Sunday night at the Olympiastadion in Berlin. England’s previous best finish came in Euro 2020 when they finished second-best.

Gareth Southgate’s men will enter the final as underdogs while Spain are overwhelming favourites after winning all their six matches so far. Interestingly, England women had won all their games before beating Spain in the final at Wembley two years ago.

Speaking ahead of the final, Rice referred to Sarina Wiegman’s side’s success and urged his teammates to replicate that. “We saw when the women’s team won it, what it meant to them and the nation,” Rice said ahead of the big finale.

“I see some of the girls at Arsenal and that’s what we want. We want to win and make the nation proud. We are back in another final, which is history itself, but now we are aiming to do one more,” he added. “We don’t want to keep talking about it and getting to finals and be happy with that. We now want to be a country where we win.

“We want to continue to grow and, for the young players coming in, we want to be a really big force,” he added. Incidentally, this is Rice’s second consecutive Euro final after losing the 2020 summit clash to Italy via penalties. That was 12 months before the Lionesses lifted title.

Rice has started in every game for England in this edition, and played alongside the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Conor Gallagher and Kobbie Mainoo in midfield. He also recalled the night three years ago and stated that has given him the motivation to go the extra mile this time.

“Seeing Italy walk up to lift the trophy at your home stadium lives with you as a football player,” Rice said. “We know that in the last final we probably just sat off and didn’t attack as much as we should have. There are not many times you go back-to-back in finals but this group of players are so hungry.

“We know it’s going to be tough and know you can’t overlook Spain, who have been a top nation for so many years. But I’ve never seen a group so motivated, in training, and how we talk with each other around the place. Everyone is so driven to win this game,” he added.