Why Declan Rice was so livid with Slovakia boss and foul-mouthed insult he hurled at him
Declan Rice appeared to hurl a foul-mouthed insult at Slovakia boss Francesco Calzona after he shoved the England midfielder.
The 25-year-old played all 120 minutes in England's thrilling 2-1 win in extra time over Slovakia on Sunday to book their place in the quarter-finals of Euro 2024.
Moments after the full-time whistle blew, Calzona angrily made his way to the officials in an attempt to confront referee Umut Meler as the Italian looked frustrated with the performance of the Turkish referee.
Having marched over to Meler, Rice apparently attempted to stop Calzona from angrily taking aim at the officials but was rebuffed in an aggressive manner by the Slovakia boss, who shoved the Englishman in the chest.
Rice didn't take too kindly to the push as he was led away by Ivan Toney and Aaron Ramsdale before he received a second push by a member of Calzona's coaching staff. The midfielder was spotted hurling insults at Calzona amid the altercation as he appeared to call the manager a 'bald c***', although this can't be confirmed.
After cooling down, Calzona gave his take on the events that transpired after his nation's last 16 defeat as he explained: "Rice was supposed to go to the referees and leave. I had to speak to the refs and he wasn't leaving, he carried on. But then he apologised and it was all fine. I didn't like the way the England team were wasting time and were not punished".
Francesco Calzona shoved Declan Rice in the chest after full-time
Despite speaking to the media after the game, Rice didn't address the post-match controversy, instead concentrating on the victory and heroics performed by Jude Bellingham.
"It was a big moment for 21 years old, that takes a lot of guts, he told BBC Sport. People don’t understand what you have to go through to get over the line. We are not playing against invisible men. They are top footballers, they kept going after us.
"It is about waiting for those moments as the game got stretched we created more. The fans tonight I cannot speak highly enough of them. So grateful they are all here to experience that."
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