England Aims to Break Negative Trend Against Ghana

England midfielder Declan Rice has vowed that the Three Lions will play at full throttle in their World Cup clash against Ghana on Wednesday, aiming to break a recent frustrating trend. England kicked off their Group L campaign in style six days ago with a 4-2 victory over Croatia, but they have a habit of drawing their second match in major tournaments in recent years.

At Euro 2020 and the 2022 World Cup, they drew 0-0 with Scotland and the United States respectively, before a 1-1 draw with Denmark at Euro 2024. Rice revealed that captain Harry Kane spoke to the squad before the Boston match, warning them not to let history repeat itself as they aim to secure knockout stage qualification with a win.

“We’re motivated and we want to win. Harry spoke earlier about how in the last few tournaments we’ve drawn the second game. So we want to go into the game knowing we’re going to play at full throttle, ready to win the game. So we’re extremely motivated to go out there and perform,” Rice stated.

England won their match against Croatia with an excellent second-half performance, which came after they were criticized by assistant coach Anthony Barry in a televised half-time interview for a poor showing in the first 45 minutes.

Rice believes their second-half reaction should set the standard for the rest of the tournament.

"As players, we know we need to build on the second half from the other day,” he added. “That was probably one of our best 45 minutes under Thomas. If I look back at the first half now, it wasn't as bad as it's made out to be, because of the goals we conceded. It probably felt worse than it was. Considering the opening World Cup matches, there were some cautious performances from many nations, simply because the World Cup creates the feeling that you're in the biggest tournament in the world. But we, as players, know what level is required, and our second-half performance was probably a benchmark for us in terms of starting the game at that level and with that tempo. And we believe that if we can do that from the first minute, with the players we have, to come in and finish the game, we can beat any opponent in the world.”

Ghana, who will secure qualification with a win against England, outplayed Panama in their opening match and will have Rice's former teammate, Thomas Partey, available after he was denied entry to Canada following his charge with seven counts of rape and one count of sexual assault in London between 2020 and 2022.

Declan Rice declined to comment on the matter, but a hostile reception is expected for Partey from traveling England fans.

“I played with Thomas, he’s a really good player, but I’ve also played against many of the others in the Ghana squad and from the clips, I know what they can do,” Rice said.

“They will bring strength, speed, they will want to catch us on the counter-attack. We need to be ready for anything, but also, having already played against many of these players, we know what’s coming.”