Slovakia manager speaks out on Declan Rice row and blasts England tactic

Declan Rice was pushed by Slovakia manager Francesco Calzona after England’s win (ITV)

Slovakia manager Francesco Calzona has revealed that Declan Rice apologised after their bust-up in the aftermath of England’s extra-time win at Euro 2024 on Sunday.

England were on the brink of a surprise exit at Euro 2024 as Slovakia were on course to secure a 1-0 victory before Jude Bellingham forced extra time with an overhead-kick equaliser in the 94th minute.

Harry Kane then popped up with a header in the first minute of extra time to put England 2-1 ahead and Gareth Southgate’s side were able to hang on for the victory, which sets up a quarter-final tie against Switzerland on July 6.

Rice, meanwhile, was involved in a spat with Calzona shortly after the full-time whistle as he was shoved by Slovakia’s head coach before the pair exchanged heated words.

When asked about the incident involving Rice, Calzona said: ‘Rice was supposed to go to the referees and say goodbye and then leave.

Slovakia were unhappy with England’s time-wasting in extra time (Getty)

‘I had to speak to the referees and he was carrying on, continuing to speak. Then he apologised and it all ended there.’

Calzona was also unhappy that England’s time-wasting tactics towards the end of the game went ‘unpunished’ by Turkish referee Umut Meler.

‘We probably should have been more aggressive in terms of man-marking but this is how things went, I accept that,’ Calzona said.

‘What I don’t accept is one minute of stoppage time with their goalkeeper [Jordan Pickford] wasting a whole lot of time.

‘I didn’t like the refereeing, I absolutely did not like that. I didn’t like the way the three officials behaved, they were always coming to our bench, they ignored the other bench, I really did not appreciate this but this is not why we lost.

‘I’m proud of my team. If we had been not so attentive all the time that’s something I will review when I watch the match tomorrow but I must congratulate all my players.

‘The only thing I didn’t appreciate is that the way England were obstructing, were wasting time, was not punished.’

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