Slovakia manager Francesco Calzona has said that England midfielder Declan Rice has apologized after their fiery exchange at Euro 2024 on Sunday evening.
Former Napoli manager Calzona was seen shoving Rice away shortly after the final whistle in England’s 2-1 extra-time win in the round of 16.
According to lip-reader Jeremy Freeman, an enraged Rice told Calzona, who was trying to reason with the referee: “Shut up, p***y, oi, shut up, you bald bastard.”
Calzona later revealed he wanted to speak to the referees full-time to complain about their inability to punish England’s time-wasting tactics during extra time.
“Rice was supposed to go to the officials and leave,” Calzona said. “I had to talk to the officials and he didn’t leave, he carried on. But then he apologised and it was all fine. I didn’t like the way the England team wasted time and didn’t get punished.”
Slovak national coach Francesco Calzona spoke at a press conference on Sunday
Calzona had previously been involved in a post-match altercation with England star Declan Rice (left)
Calzona’s team were just seconds away from a famous win before Jude Bellingham scored a spectacular equalizer in the 95th minute.
That cancelled out Ivan Schranz’s opening goal in the first half, before Three Lions captain Harry Kane headed in the winning goal just 51 seconds into extra time.
“The disappointment is enormous,” Calzona added. ‘But I feel more pride than disappointment. We almost won and advanced against the world class team. We tried very hard, we almost got ahead. We have not been able to move forward.
‘In extra time we were in the opponent’s half for half an hour. I’m proud that we did it this way and did it so well.”
Asked whether his team, who tried to play on the front foot as much as possible, could have done more to stop England’s two goals, Calzona replied: ‘Unfortunately we conceded a goal with a few seconds left. Our team is not as good as them. If you don’t pay attention you will be punished, I don’t want to blame anyone or name anyone.
“At that point we should have been more aggressive in defending individual players. I didn’t like the referee of the match. It’s not why we lost. I’m proud of our team.’
Slovakia would have beaten England had Jude Bellingham not scored a fantastic late goal
Calzona was proud of his team despite their eventual defeat in extra time in the round of 16
Calzona said he told his players in the locker room, “You did a great job, you’re fantastic.”
He continued: ‘What else can I tell them? We played balanced games with everyone, we had chances, we scored goals. The statistics also confirm this.
‘Everyone is very disappointed because we were almost in the quarter-finals. Unfortunately the dream has faded, but we have to accept it.”