Declan Rice's anger at Euro 2024: 'I absolutely did not like that'

Switzerland

England meet Switzerland after beating Slovakia in the round of 16 of Euro 2024, a match that nearly escalated after the final whistle.

Heating up

England midfielder Declan Rice had to be held back by his teammate Aaron Ramsdale as things heated up after England's 2-1 extra-time win over Slovakia.

Altercation with Calzona

Rice was forced away from the Slovakian manager Francesco Calzona by his Arsenal teammate after the pair got into an altercation next to the referee.

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Storming to the referee

According to The Sun, the Slovakian boss stormed onto the pitch to confront Turkish referee Umut Meler. However, as Calzona approached the referee, Rice told him not to bother.

Pushing and shoving

The Slovakian boss responded by pushing Rice, before another member of the Slovakian coaching staff shoved the England midfielder. Ramsdale and his England teammates quickly defused the situation.

"Then he apologised"

In the post-match interview, Calzona said: "I had to speak to the referees, and he was carrying on, continuing to speak. Then he apologised, and it all ended there."

Why was he critical?

The Slovakian manager was critical of the Turkish referee because he believed he let England time waste in extra-time, and he was solely concentrated on the Slovakian bench and not England's.

"Wasting a whole lot of time"

Football365 reports Calzona said: "We probably should have been more aggressive in terms of man-marking, but this is how things went. I accept that. 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 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, and they ignored the other bench. I really did not appreciate this, but this is not why we lost."

Facing Switzerland

Jude Bellingham's 95th-minute overhead kick equalizer and Harry Kane's early extra-time header means England now face Switzerland in the quarter-finals after they beat Italy 2-0.

Need to perform better

Gareth Southgate and his players know they need to perform better and can't lean on the referee when they play the Swiss on the 6th of July.

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