Rio Ferdinand shares Declan Rice text as he publically shouts out West Ham United star at World Cup
Rio Ferdinand has shared what he sent to West Ham star Declan Rice via text message after England crashed out of the World Cup against France.
The Three Lions lost 2-1 to reigning world champions France in the quarter-finals after a fantastic performance, with Harry Kane missing a vital penalty that would have made it 2-2 with just minutes to go.
But despite the exit, Ferdinand told Vibe with Five (11 December, 9mins 15secs) that Rice is one of several players who will leave the tournament with their reputation enhanced and said he told him the same via text.
“I have to shout out Declan Rice,” he said. “I think he’s been quietly one of our consistent best performers.
“I think when you talk to a lot of the foreign players, the legends that obviously we’re hanging around with, a lot of the legends of the game during the World Cup and speaking to a lot of the guys, and when you ask them out of the English guys, you get the obvious Bellingham etc, but most of them come back with Declan Rice as well.
“So in terms of the respect around Europe and world football, I think he comes out of this tournament as a player who has enhanced his reputation.
“And I think, I left him a message, a text, this morning about it. I think when you go into a tournament as a player, you go in and want minimum one of two things. That’s how I went into a tournament.
“Firstly you want to win the tournament. And secondly you want to come out of this tournament with your reputation enhanced. And I think Declan Rice can do that. Didn’t win it, but he’s enhanced his reputation.”
Hurt
Rice showed the entire world and anyone who still doubts him that he absolutely belongs at the top table with the world’s best, and it’s no surprise to anyone who supports West Ham.
His energy, reading of the game and defensive work is unmatched in this country and there is no shock that the top teams in the world are interested.
Ferdinand is right too when it comes to a player’s hopes for a tournament, because they’re selfish in a good way. They want to succeed, and if they can’t do that as a team then they want to do it individually.
Rice will know that he did everything well and hasn’t let himself down, and if anything he has changed minds for the positive rather than in a negative way with his performances.
He’s claret and blue and he’s one of our own, so we must cherish him for as long as he is ours because it’s not going to last much longer.