Declan Rice was thinking of his Cork grandparents after the Arsenal midfielder scored against Ireland, explaining it would have been “really disrespectful” to celebrate scoring a goal.
Rice, who played three times for the Ireland senior team, put his hands up, palms out, to make clear to team mates and the England supporters to avoid a big celebration after his 12th minute goal on Saturday.
“Obviously, my nan and grandad on my dad’s side of the family are all Irish. They have obviously passed away, they are not here anymore,” Rice said after the 2-0 England win at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
“I think to have celebrated would have been really disrespectful of me, with them obviously not being here anymore and them being my dad’s parents.
“I didn’t want to do that, to be honest with you. Obviously, I had such an amazing time playing for Ireland in the first-team, the 19s and 21s. I have great memories that will live with me. I don’t have a bad word to say, I wish them all the best, like I always do with anyone.”
President Michael D Higgins, Taoiseach Simon Harris and the UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer all watched the game together.
Rice’s goal was followed by a second from Jack Grealish, who played for Ireland at youth level and whose grandparents are from Dublin, Galway and Kerry.
Both were booed by sections of the crowd during the game, the former Ireland midfielder Lee Carsley’s first in charge of the England team.
Ireland fans also booed the England national anthem, God Save the King, while sections of England fans booed and chanted during the playing of Amhrán na bhFiann.
“A lot of the Irish fans have an opinion and a feeling towards me, which is absolutely fine because I made that decision to switch as a kid,” Rice said.
“But you could see in my goal there’s no animosity from my side. I didn’t want to celebrate. My nan and grandad were Irish. It would have been disrespectful because obviously I played three times for Ireland and I had such an amazing time here.
“It would have been wrong of me so that’s why I chose not to. It’s nice to score but also it was a bit of a weird feeling.”
Grealish, who did celebrate his goal enthusiastically, said he and Rice were both grateful of their experiences in the Ireland ranks as youngsters.
“It was what me and Dec expected. I said before the game, I think it is different,” Grealish said of the booing.
“Me and Dec have nothing bad to say, we both enjoyed our time with Ireland. I certainly did, and I have a lot of Irish in my family, so there is no bad blood from my side.”
Prior to the game, the interim England manager Carsley received some criticism after saying he would not sing the British national anthem.
“I fully respect people’s opinions. It’s something that I’ve never done but I fully respect both national anthems,” Carsley said.
“Today would be probably one of the proudest days of my career to lead an England team out in Dublin. You definitely couldn’t have written it.
“I don’t feel hard done by or aggrieved. I respect everyone’s opinion.”
Meanwhile, there were reports of some exchanges outside the ground between rival fans. Earlier, some Ireland supporters had been heard chanting about the late Queen Elizabeth II.
Following an incident on Shelbourne Road, gardai made a small number of arrests after the match had finished.
There had been a heavy Garda presence around the city since Friday night.
On Saturday, horse-mounted gardaí, along with the Garda helicopter, also patrolled the south city centre and area around the stadium.
