England player Declan Rice reveals helpful words from James Corden

James Corden helped England player Declan Rice realise the significance of his team’s Euro 2020 run.

West Ham midfielder Rice, 22, said he had been speaking to the comedian and chat show host on FaceTime during the tournament, which has seen the Three Lions knock out old rivals Germany and reach the semi-final stage.

Appearing on the Official England Podcast, Rice said Corden, 42, had made him realise that he had not understood how big the tournament has been for England fans.

He said: “Since the Scotland game I speak to James Corden quite a bit, we FaceTime each other.

“He was with (West Ham captain) Mark Noble at the Germany game so I spoke to them after and they were buzzing.

“There are people who don’t even like football or don’t sit down and watch it and now it is a ritual to lock in and watch the games in this tournament.

“James Corden said to me, ‘Do you actually understand what you are doing?’ and I don’t really.

“It has not hit me yet and even when the tournament has finished it probably won’t hit me until my career finishes.

“We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves but we know what is ahead of us and hopefully we can achieve a massive dream.”

Corden is an avid supporter of West Ham and has been following the England campaign closely.

He shared a video from the stands at Wembley following England’s win against Germany last week, captioning the post: “Still feels like a dream…”