England midfielder Declan Rice has brought extra luggage to Qatar – just incase the Three Lions bring home the World Cup trophy.
The 23-year-old midfielder, who earned a place in Gareth Southgate’s 26-man squad after an impressive start to West Ham’s season, clearly thinks his country have a good chance of winning this winter’s competition.
After arriving at St George’s Park – the home to all of England’s 27 national teams – Rice got out of his car and walked around to the boot, where the driver helped with his luggage.
“There’s nothing in that one. That’s a spare,” Rice said to the driver, “Hopefully I’ll bring home the trophy in this one.”
Before grabbing his luggage, Rice was asked about this summer’s tournament. “It’s unbelievable, it’s crazy man, crazy,” he said. “Special. It feels different. World Cup baby!”
Last year, the West Ham midfielder performed his rendition of ‘Rice Rice Baby’ during a Twitter karaoke space of ‘Sing Your Dialect’ to over 75,000 people.
As soon as his performance was over, social media blew up as it was shared across multiple social channels and picked up by numerous news outlets across the world.
Image credit: AlamyLast week, in a TikTok posted on Declan’s official channel, the 23-year-old danced alongside his three nephews to the adapted Vanilla Ice song ‘Ice Ice Baby’.
And now, shouts for the ‘Rice Rice Baby’ song to become the chant of this winter’s World Cup are well underway.
Away from the social media scene and Manchester City forward Sergio Aguero thinks Rice is on the “same level” as Barcelona legend Sergio Busquets.
“For me he is a great player and is at the same level as the best midfielders like Busquets, Rodri and Casemiro,” Aguero said of Rice during an interview with Stake.
“It seems to me that he is valued. What happens is that with him not being in a ‘Big Six’ team, he does not get talked about as much.
“But he has proven himself and I think he is one of the strengths of the England team at the World Cup.”
