DECLAN RICE INVOLVED IN HEATED SPAT WITH SLOVAKIA MANAGER AFTER ENGLAND SURVIVED A HUGE SCARE TO CLAIM 2-1 VICTORY AND PROGRESS TO QUARTER-FINALS AT EURO 2024
- Francesco Calzona was spotted shoving Rice in the chest after full-time
- England 2-1 Slovakia LIVE: Follow all the reaction to Three Lions' tense victory
Declan Rice was involved in a heated altercation with Slovakia manager Francesco Calzona after England won 2-1 after extra-time to reach the quarter-finals of Euro 2024.
TV footage captured Calzona pushing Rice away after approaching referee Umut Meler following the final whistle.
The England star took exception and was seen furiously gesticulating and aiming expletives at Calzona before being pulled away by Ivan Toney.
Rice was then spotted telling Slovakian coaches and substitutes to 'shut up' as he was removed from the situation by Toney and Ezri Konsa.
The incident came after England had survived a huge scare as Jude Bellingham scored a dramatic 95th minute equaliser before Harry Kane headed the winner less than a minute into extra-time.
The victory set up a meeting with Switzerland, who beat Italy 2-0, in the last eight on Saturday.
It is not clear what irked Calzona and prompted him to speak to the referee after the final whistle had blown.
He pushed Rice in the chest and could be seen aiming words at the 25-year-old.
Konsa, Toney and back-up goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale were then involved in trying to diffuse the situation after coming to the defence of their England counterpart.
England were abject throughout the contest in Gelsenkirchen after falling behind in the 25th minute to Ivan Schranz's well-taken effort.
They had to wait until deep into the dying stages to equalise as Bellingham's acrobatic moment of magic spared their blushes and preserved their place in the tournament.
Bellingham's superb bicycle kick sparked a turnaround as Kane headed home in the first minute of the additional 30.
England then held on to secure a vital victory to progress to the quarter-finals and keep Gareth Southgate in his job.
'Sweet Caroline doesn’t sound very sweet,' Gary Neville said. 'I mean relief is the word of the game. We’ve been very very lucky and we should thank our lucky stars, look up there and thank everything because we were woeful.
'We’ve been woeful now for four games and not even extra-time we played particularly well, we sort of drew Slovakia onto us, they were unlucky at the end.
'We’ve got to change something dramatically now. I’m happy for Gareth. We all know him in the studio, he’s a great guy, got massive integrity but he will realise tonight that he was so close to the edge. Very close to the edge.'
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