Declan Rice insists England are “ready to create history” by winning Euro 2024 and ending a 58-year wait for major men’s silverware.
Gareth Southgate’s side face the Netherlands in the last four on Wednesday looking to book their place in back-to-back finals.
A penalty shoot-out defeat to Italy at Euro 2020 is the closest the men’s team have come to matching the achievements of the 1966 World Cup winners.
Rice was part of the squad that was beaten at Wembley in 2021 but believes it is now time for the trophy drought to end.
“It’s a semi-final and that’s the only way I think about it, to be honest with you. We’re here for a reason, Holland are here for a reason and may the best team win.
“It’s a game of football, we feel like we’ve got a really good bit of momentum on our side. We’ve obviously seen all the clips from people at home. It’s weird, because we’re in such a bubble, we don’t even hear about anything, but we see the videos. I’ve had a lot of texts saying the country’s buzzing and stuff like that.
“So we want to keep creating memories for everyone, and I think even for ourselves. I think we’re ready to create history, we want to be the first team since 1966 obviously, the women’s team have already done it, but we want to be able to do it as well.
“But I think we have got a lot of respect for them. If you look at the history of the Dutch, the players they’ve produced, the managers they’ve produced, they’ve always been a top nation.
“I’m never going to sit here and talk them down, it’s a massive game. They’re obviously in the semis for a reason. So, look, bring it on. We’re really confident – everyone at home, keep backing us.
“Keep supporting us because we’re feeling that love, that energy and hopefully we can create history again by going to back-to-back finals, touch wood!”
Rice has played every second of England’s campaign in Germany so far, including two 120-minute games to beat Slovakia and Switzerland – the latter won on penalties – to reach the semi-final stage.
During that time, the £105million Arsenal club-record signing has covered more ground than any other player in the competition.
“I’ve been doing it since last July as well,” he told Lions’ Den.
“We started last July and we are still going. This is our job, this is what we conditioned for; 90 minute football matches. You know how to prepare yourself, the more you play, the more experienced you become. You know when you have to run, you know when you don’t have to run.”
Rice, 25, also feels the sense of occasion can bring the best out of him, with the former West Ham captain sitting second for most tackles and fourth for the most ball recoveries at the Euros.
“I think the bigger the games, the more driven I get and I just get extra spurts of energy a lot of the time,” he added.
“Even the boys at Arsenal, the boys here, they say I run too much, but it’s just a part of me, I love trying to help my team-mates, I love winning the ball back and just trying to do everything I can to win the games.
“To be honest, obviously, I see the stats, the numbers, I see the heat maps but as a midfielder I think there would be something wrong if I wasn’t covering the ground, I don’t want to be a lazy midfielder and walk and not be involved.”
