Every Irish football fans worst nightmare unfolded at the Aviva this evening as the Boys in Green slumped to a 2-0 defeat to England, and the two goalscorers former Irish internationals Rice and Grealish.
It was the first time England defeated Ireland on Irish soil since a friendly way back in May 1964.
It was the manner of the defeat that will hurt Irish fans most, the two villains of the evening Declan Rice and Jack Grealish got themselves on the scoresheet, their names were booed before kick-off and signs reading "the snakes are back" were held up in the crowd.
You couldn’t write this script.
Rice and Grealish react to goals against Ireland
Grealish spoke post-match about his Irish family but still celebrated in front of the traveling English fans after netting England's second goal
"Me and Dec have nothing bad to say.. I’ve got a lot of Irish in my family so there’s no bad blood"
"Me and Dec have nothing bad to say.. I've got a lot of Irish in my family so there's no bad blood" 🗣️@JackGrealish & @_DeclanRice speaking to @GabrielClarke05 after #IREENG pic.twitter.com/om4ZPX9VxQ
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) September 7, 2024
Meanwhile, speaking to bein sports, Rice spoke about his non-celebration which annoyed of Irish supporters.
"Obviously it was an amazing feeling to score but I was never going to celebrate I have Irish family -my nan and grandad who are not here anymore.
I think it would have been disrespectful to them if I celebrated. My dad was here as well. It was a nice feeling but I wanted to get back into the game.
This happened six-sevens years ago. I get along really well with a lot of them Irish boys."
"I was never going to celebrate. My nan and grandad are not here anymore and I think it would have been disrespectful to them."
Declan Rice tells @zmansour75 why he didn't celebrate his goal against the Republic of Ireland.#beINNATIONSLEAGUE #AFC pic.twitter.com/3JJ1cVLHbM— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS_EN) September 7, 2024
While Rice who has 3 caps for Ireland was more subdued and chose not to celebrate after his opener.
A sobering evening that will live long in the memory for all the wrong reasons but Tuesday’s game against Greece will be a better gauge of where Ireland are at.
England are 54 places ahead of Ireland in the Fifa world rankings and Harry Kane has scored 44 more international goals than Ireland’s starting 11 combined. Perspective is needed for Heimir Hallgrimsson.
