Declan Rice has described West Ham’s European win over Dinamo Zagreb as ‘incredible’ following their 2-0 dismantling of the Croatian champions on Thursday evening.
The West Ham captain scored on his debut in a European competition, finishing off a storming run from the halfway line with a deft side-footed finish to make it 2-0 on the night.
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Speaking to the club’s official website after the win, Rice said that the three points were for the ‘travelling fans’ who made the trip to Zagreb on Thursday:
“It feels amazing, incredible,” he began. “Last year we worked so hard to achieve this and we didn’t want to let the fans down tonight.
“We knew we had a tough game to come out here for the first one, and we had to get the three points for ourselves, but also for the travelling fans. They’ve been amazing.
“We felt we were in control. In the first half they sat behind the ball and it was a case of keeping the ball moving. Mich [Antonio] pounced on a mistake and made a great finish.
“Then in the second half I read the pass and pounced on the mistake as well. Two mistakes and they get punished and we walk away very happy tonight.”
The England international also talked about his goal, stating that scoring that type of goal is part of his game that he wants to show more.
“It’s a part of my game I’ve been speaking about for so long. I know I can do it and I know I’ve got it in myself,” he continued.
“I read the pass, beat the player to the 50-50 and just thought keep going, he’s not going to catch me. It was a quick-thinking, instinctive process, because Mich pulled away and I was going to pass, but I thought if you don’t shoot you don’t score. So I shot and luckily enough it went in the back of the net.”
