Declan Rice has admitted that he turned his phone off and hid from his family once he had made public his decision to switch international allegiance from Ireland to England.
The 20-year old, who has earned three caps for the Boys in Green, had been the subject of much contention after it emerged that he was considering switching his allegiances, which he was eligible to do having only played in friendlies for Ireland.
Last month, Rice released a lengthy post on Twitter confirming that he had elected to represent his country of birth, which cause controversy among Ireland fans who felt like they had been used to boost the midfielder’s profile.
Talking to Standard Sport, Rice admitted that he was worried about the initial backlash, and that he shut himself away from social media after making the decision public. Rice said:
We were out in Marbella when I made the decision. I called both Mick [McCarthy] and Gareth [Southgate] and once I made the two phone calls and set up the statement I just turned off the phone because I knew it would be pinging with loads of messages, texts, social media and I knew I had to take myself away from it while I was away.
I didn’t really read much about it and told my family not to look because there was always going to be some backlash and I didn’t want them reading that. I’m just looking at the positives and to the future.
It’s been difficult because I’m the youngest in the family. Mum and dad are always looking out for me, they just want the best for me. Making the decision, they were worried about the backlash. Whether they did look or not, that was up to them, but they are proud and I stick by my decision.
