West Ham’s central midfield pairing Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek ended the final international break of 2020 on a high as they scored the opening goals in wins for their respective nations.
The Hammers’ current on-field captain Rice grabbed his first England goal as the Three Lions ended their UEFA Nations League campaign with a 4-0 win over Iceland.
Soucek netted a now-familiar towering header, his fourth goal for his country, to send the Czech Republic on their way to a 2-0 victory over neighbours Slovakia.
Right-back Vladimir Coufal played all 90 minutes for the Czechs and will head back to David Moyes’ group to prepare for Sunday’s trip to Sheffield United.
The midfield duo weren’t the only Irons in action on Wednesday night as elsewhere, backup goalkeeper Darren Randolph reached 50 caps for Republic of Ireland with a clean sheet in a 0-0 draw with Bulgaria in Dublin.
West Ham’s number one Łukasz Fabiański finished on the losing side as Poland gave up a 1-0 lead against Netherlands, ultimately losing 2-1 in Chorzów.
READ WEST HAM VERDICT
The majority of West Ham fans may simply be breathing collective sighs of relief as the international breaks come to an end until March, and with relatively few injury concerns.
Indeed, with the goals, victories and strong performances behind them, the likes of Rice and Soucek are arguably returning to east London with more confidence than when they left.
