Declan Rice has explained on the Official England Podcast how James Corden is helping the West Ham midfielder realise the scale of what England are achieving at Euro 2020.
England will contest their first European Championship semi-final in 25-years when they face Denmark on Wednesday night. The Three Lions lost to Germany at that stage in 1996, and have never won the Euros with their best result third-place back in 1968 and 1996.
Rice has started all of England’s fixtures at the Euros so far, with the West Ham vice-captain pivotal to Gareth Southgate’s plans. He particularly helped to turn the tide against Germany in the Last 16 encounter, after which he spoke to host of The Late Late Show Corden.
Corden was at Wembley to watch England beat Germany with West Ham captain Mark Noble. Now, the comedian is helping Rice to realise the scale of England’s success and how his dream could come true
“Since the Scotland game, I speak to James Corden quite a bit, we FaceTime each other,” Rice said. “He was with Mark Noble at the Germany game, so I spoke to them after, and they were buzzing.
“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.”
James Corden helping West Ham star Declan Rice realise England dream
Corden enthusing the scale of what Rice is achieving with England could help the West Ham star realise his dream at Euro 2020. Having a character like the comedian and Irons fan in his corner will keep the midfielder grounded and aware of what it means to so many.
England have been starved of international success for so long, but fans are daring to dream again. The 2018 World Cup proved the Three Lions can come together and get far into a tournament. But the Euros is their best chance in years to actually lift a trophy.
It would end a 55-year wait since the 1966 World Cup if Southgate’s men can go all the way. And there are only 180 minutes of regular time currently standing between them and silverware. But beating Denmark will bring it a little closer, and make dreams a little bigger.
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