England woke up pointing the finger at itself. In the middle of the Premier League derby between Tottenham and Arsenal, a home fan decided to cross the line. When Declan Rice approached the corner flag to take a corner at the Tottenham Stadium, he was shown a picture of his wife on his mobile phone from the stands.
An ugly gesture. One of those that leaves a portrait. And one that Rice himself, fortunately, did not even notice. The midfielder had just intervened in Kolo Muani’s goal, the equaliser. He went about his business. Ninety minutes of constant presence and active participation in the London derby thrashing (1-4). Arsenal did not stop and neither did Rice.
This is not the first time the England international has experienced such an episode, always around the physical appearance of his wife, Lauren Fryer. In April he publicly denounced the harassment his family was suffering on social media. “My wife is the love of my life and there is no one better for me,” he said at the time.
The pressure was so great that Lauren, the mother of his child, closed her social media accounts. Jamie Vardy’s wife, Rebekah Vardy, spoke out in her defense: “It’s really disgusting what they’ve done to Lauren Fryer. Unfortunately, these days it’s very easy to hide behind a keyboard.”
A situation that has gone viral
While the gesture was being discussed outside, Rice continued to compete. After the match he was seen smiling, congratulating Gyökeres and celebrating his 100th appearance for Arsenal. Defoe noticed his reaction during the clash: “Before the mistake on the goal, I saw him trying to gee up the crowd and encourage everyone to stay focused. The difficult thing in football is making sure you follow your own advice.”
Mikel Arteta went further when talking about his midfielder. “When you talk about attitude, what Declan did today… he can make a mistake, but the way he played afterwards… That’s attitude. That’s personality, and courage, and knowing how to stand up in a difficult moment”. And while the stands showed a mobile phone, Rice showed character on the pitch.
Read the full article here
