Declan Rice was mightily impressed with England’s performance against Costa Rica before the World Cup.
Rice recently joined the England squad after taking a short break following Arsenal’s Champions League final defeat.
He immediately returned to the starting line-up, playing alongside Elliott Anderson and Jude Bellingham in midfield.
The Arsenal man helped the Three Lions to a comfortable 3-0 victory over Costa Rica with a superb performance.
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Declan Rice makes feelings clear on England win vs Costa Rica
England fell short of expectations in their friendly against New Zealand last weekend, only winning 1-0 in Tampa Bay.
Thomas Tuchel demanded a response from his players, and they delivered from the first whistle in Orlando.
Rice scored England’s opening goal after just nine minutes, and the result was never in question for the remainder of the game.
Even though Tuchel made 11 substitutions in the second half, England continued to dominate Costa Rica all over the pitch.
“The manager was onto us before the game to ramp it up, intensity with and without the ball, counter pressing,” Rice told ITV.
“The performance was top from everyone. It was an outstanding second-half performance.
“We’ve adapted to the heat; that’s not a problem now. We’ve been speaking all week about how me, Gordon and Nico [O’Reilly] were going to rotate and be fluid – you saw that in the first half.
“We’re building confidence and fitness going into that first game. It’s really good.”
The performance will have given England supporters more confidence in reaching the latter stages of the World Cup.
Several key players, including Rice, Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham, looked sharp despite already having long seasons.
Only time will tell, but the Three Lions looked ready to take on the challenge of facing Croatia next Wednesday.
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