England began a new era in the history of their national team with the match in Dublin against Ireland. After Gareth Southgate resigned from coaching the national team in July – after the European Championship in Germany – it became clear that England would face changes. Lee Carsley became the temporary manager. He made a successful debut.
Symbolic defeat for Ireland. They lost after goals from former internationals
The visitors took the lead in the 12th minute when Declan Rice beat Kelleher. The Arsenal midfielder added an assist just fourteen minutes later, this time from Jack Grealish. The scoreboard remained unchanged, and as a result, this duo proved crucial in achieving victory. A telling banner appeared in the stands of the Dublin stadium with photos of both players and the caption “snakes are back”.
It's a symbolic fact, as both Rice and Grealish have represented Ireland in the past. Rice, still a promising 19-year-old, made three appearances under Martin O'Neill in 2018. He last wore the green shirt of Ireland on June 2, 2018. What happened next?
He decided to change his national colours. He could do so because he had only played in friendly matches for Ireland. Rice was born in London and decided he wanted to represent England.
The story of Grealish, who played for Ireland in the youth teams, is slightly different. He changed teams earlier, however, as he played for the U21 team in the team “Sons of Albion”.
It is worth noting that the first of this duo – Rice – did not celebrate after scoring a goal in Saturday's match.
Ireland 0-2 England (0-2)
Goals: Declan Rice'12, Jack Grealish'26
Ireland: Kelleher (gk) – Coleman (k) (58'O'Brien), Collins, O'Shea, Brady (82'Ferguson) – Doherty (58'Knight), Molumby, Smallbone (75'Browne), Szmodics – Ogbene , Idah (76'McAteer)
coach: Heimir Hallgrimsson
England: Pickford (gk) – Alexander-Arnold, Maguire (85'Stones), Guehi, Colwill – Mainoo (78'Gomes), Rice, Grealish (77'Gibbs-White) – Saka, Kane (k) (85'Bowen), Gordon (78'Eze)
coach: Lee Carsley