Declan Rice left England’s game against Ghana with a limp on Tuesday night, with the player seemingly suffering an injury to his calf.
Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice featured for England against Ghana on Tuesday, which was initially taken as a positive thing by supporters.
Rice had been substituted in England’s opening World Cup match against Croatia last Wednesday with an upper hamstring issue, so there were doubts over whether he’d be able to feature in their second game less than a week later.
The fact the midfielder completed the full 90 minutes against Ghana was therefore a boost, up until he was seen limping through the mixed zone away from the game.
Rice was seen with strapping on his left calf, suggesting his hamstring isn’t the only thing giving him trouble at the moment.
David Ornstein reports that the severity of the injury is unclear at this stage, but it’s certainly a concern ahead of England’s final World Cup group game against Panama.
The best option could be to rest Rice for the match, considering the four points England have already accrued will likely be enough to progress to the knockouts.
A win against goalless Panama would probably be enough to top the group, barring a big win for Ghana (who have one goal in two games) over Croatia.
The Telegraph had reported pre-game that Rice had been managing neural pain in his hamstring for six months, with the player himself confirming as much.
In better news for England and Arsenal, Thomas Tuchel told the media ahead of the Ghana game that Bukayo Saka is now playing without pain and was “able to do both our training sessions at the highest level the last two days”.
Saka didn’t end up starting the Ghana match, and he’s yet to start any match for England this summer. But it seems he’s getting closer to that milestone now.
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