Declan Rice really impressed on his Republic of Ireland debut.
The 19-year-old played all 90 minutes in his first outing for Martin O’Nell’s side and looked head and shoulders above the rest. RTE may have been referring to him as ‘Damien Rice’ for half the night but they better sort themselves out because it looks as though this kid will be about for a long time to come.
Starting off as one of the back three, Rice moved into midfield in the second half and continued to shine. Not only did he look composed on the ball, the West Ham man drove forward at every opportunity and looked at ways of opening up the Turkey defence.
For a player who has played most of his club football this season at centre-back, it’s a withering indictment of Ireland’s dearth of creativity that he looked like the most menacing player.
The official Man of the Match is debutante Declan Rice! #COYBIG pic.twitter.com/ZM8b3MGgpM
— Ireland Football ⚽️🇮🇪 (@IrelandFootball) March 23, 2018
But that’s not to discredit Rice. Even though it was a friendly, an international debut is always a daunting proposition for a young player, especially if it’s happening in front of the notoriously partisan Turkish fans.
Following the game, Rice attracted plaudits on social media and they were echoed in the RTE studio, with Richard Dunne highlighting his impressive contributions.
“It was maturity beyond his years,” Dunne said. “He’s always in the right position, he’s ordering people around, but the good thing about him is that he knows when to come, when to close areas down.
“But I think he should be playing in the centre of midfield in the future, his reading of the game is excellent and he can dribble it. The Ireland midfield is very conservative, always looking for the simple pass but he’s not afraid to drive at people to commit the opponent and make them make mistakes. We need that bit of drive and it’s something Roy Keane used to do for Ireland, he’d get at the opponents and drive the team forward – that’s what Rice gives us.”
Some of man of the match Declan Rice's best moments for Ireland against Turkey this evening #TURIRL pic.twitter.com/6EB1vnvZuI
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) March 23, 2018
