Rice was shoved in the chest by Calzona and both men were then involved in a fiery exchange.
Arsenal manager Francesco Calzona has revealed that Declan Rice has apologised to him following their heated exchange after England’s extra-time win at Euro 2024 on Sunday.
The Arsenal star played the full 120 minutes in the round-of-16 clash against Slovakia. They came from behind to secure a 2-1 victory over Slovakia. Jude Bellingham’s dramatic 95th-minute equaliser followed by Harry Kane’s header just 52 seconds into extra time did a full job.
Rice was shoved in the chest by Calzona and both men were then involved in a fiery exchange in front of the match officials. According to lipreader Jeremy Freeman, via the Daily Mail, Rice told Calzona to ‘Shut up, p***y, oi, shut up, you bald c***.’
Calzona has revealed that the Arsenal midfielder has apologised, and the Italian stated that he initially wished to confront the officials at full-time to complain about England’s time-wasting tactics.
Calzona told reporters, “Rice was supposed to go to the referees and leave. I had to speak to the refs and he wasn’t leaving, he carried on. But then he apologised and it was all fine. I didn’t like the way the England team were wasting time and not punished.”
Calzona later insisted that he was proud of the performance of his Slovakian side, adding: “I have no bad words to say because we played a great game against an opponent that is a candidate to win it all.
“My team showed a lot, we were really good, we conceded very little and we came within a step of qualification. Too bad.
“It’s a pride to see a team like ours put in a performance like that. I can only say that for me it is a great pride to coach such a team.
“Fantastic group, a unique commitment and attitude. I was lucky enough to meet these guys and they gave me enormous satisfaction.”
See More:
- Arsenal preparing transfer bid to sign Marc Guehi amid Chelsea interest
- Gareth Southgate responds to criticism after playing Bukayo Saka left-back for England
