Rio Ferdinand heaped praise on Declan Rice after England’s deserved 1-0 win against Croatia in their opening Euro 2020 game.
The Three Lions won their first group game 1-0 thanks to Raheem Sterling‘s second half finish.
Gareth Southgate’s were the better side throughout the 90 minutes as they did well to nullify Croatia’s threats.
England 1-0 Croatia: Rating the players
With the likes of Luka Modric, Ivan Perisic and Mateo Kovacic, Croatia are strong in midfield areas.
But England‘s two holding midfielders – Rice and Kalvin Phillips – performed brilliantly to keep Croatia’s danger men quiet all game.
Ferdinand told BBC Sport (as cited by The Metro) that Rice was “superb” against Croatia:
“It is about taking your moments like we did but also managing the game through difficult spells.
“There were times when they were on the front foot but then they took their foot off their pedal.
“I was very impressed with the patience of this team from back to front. I thought Declan Rice in front of the back four was superb in his positions, cutting out crosses, getting in great positions to cut the lines into the strikers.
“There will be stiffer tests but they did what they had to do today.”
Next up for England is Scotland at Wembley next Friday. Steve Clarke’s side face the Czech Republic in their first group game at 14:00 on Monday.
Meanwhile, Southgate took time to praise Rice’s midfield partner, Phillips, after the game:
“The players dealt with the big occasion really well. Right from the start, incredible heat, they played well and settled early in the game.
“There were moments where the tempo dropped because of the heat but the majority of the game we were in control and didn’t give Croatia many opportunities and we looked dangerous.
“Kalvin Phillips is a player who is so understated. He has had a fantastic start to his international career. I thought he was immense throughout the game – as they all were.”
Euro 2020 is finally here – and what better way to celebrate than with a preview show to mark the launch of our new multi-sport website Planet Sport?