Declan Rice says England can “do something really special” at Euro 2024 as Gareth Southgate’s team jetted to Germany after a royal send-off on Monday.
England are among the favourites to win the European Championship, three years after falling agonisingly short in the final of the last edition of the tournament at Wembley.
Midfielder Rice says there is a belief in the group that they can be crowned kings of Europe for the first time and win England’s first major trophy since the 1966 World Cup.
“We want to make history,” said the Arsenal midfielder. “We say it all the time, but genuinely we have a group, a manager that really believes.
“We have a confidence that we can go there and do something really special and, of course, with that comes hard work.
“That is going to be the main thing – the hard work as a team, unity, togetherness and with everyone behind us at home.
“We’re going to feel that for sure, so stick with us, be positive and let’s see what happens.”
Rice was speaking before heading to the airport from St George’s Park, England’s national football centre, where flag-waving children gave the team a lively send-off.
“We’re about to go and play a tournament for our country,” said Rice. “It’s a privilege, an honour and it feels very real now. When you start to do things like this, it starts to feel real.
“You can have all the build-up in the world, but when you know you’re travelling and that, it’s proper now.”
Prince William, the president of the Football Association, travelled to St George’s Park on Monday to wish the players luck and present them with their shirts.
England, who kick off their Euro 2024 campaign against Serbia on Sunday, suffered a shock 1-0 defeat to Iceland in their final friendly last week.
But Rice said the disappointment does not detract from what was a beneficial 10-day training camp.
“It’s obviously difficult when you finish the league,” the 25-year-old said on England’s departure show on YouTube
“Your body completely shuts down when you have a break, because we’re made to just play all the time.
“When we have a rest, our body shuts down and it’s hard to get going again. But last week was really beneficial, to be honest with you, I think for everyone.
“We’ve got another full week now until the game, so we’ll be in a really good spot.”
Meanwhile, Harry Kane said the defeat against Iceland could be a “nice wake-up call”, showing the scale of the task ahead of them at Euro 2024.
Friday’s farewell party at Wembley fell flat, and the players were booed off in a half-empty stadium.
Iceland took a early lead through Jon Dagur Thorsteinsson, and the visitors then had the better chances to extend their advantage as the hosts toiled at both ends of the pitch.
England captain Kane knows lessons have to be learnt ahead of their Group C opener against Serbia in Gelsenkirchen on Sunday.
“Sometimes you need this wake-up call,” he said. “There are areas we need to improve, especially with our pressure.
“The group games are going to be very similar to this. We are going to have to defend well, especially the longer balls, and with the ball we need to be a bit more patient.”
Kane, 30, said despite the defeat, there was a lot of justified optimism among England fans that the Euro 2020 finalists could go one better this year.
“Ultimately, it is down to us to make sure we get it right on the pitch,” he said.
“This could be a nice wake-up call for everyone to realise it is not going to be as easy as people think. There is a lot of work to do.”
Kane, who scored 44 goals in 45 games in his debut season at Bayern Munich, said he was raring to go.
“Being so close in the last Euros, there is a real hunger to be back. It comes around quick, if I’m honest,” he said.
“We had the World Cup and we are back here again. I feel like we are on the right path. But as we all know as well, it is really difficult to win these tournaments.
“There are a lot of things that you have to do right and prepare right, and you need a bit of luck here and there. Every winner does.
“We have that mindset that we can achieve it. We also know there is a lot of hard work from now until the final in July.”
England’s other opponents in Group C are Denmark and Slovenia.
Euro 2024 begins on Friday, when Germany play Scotland in Munich. | AFP