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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Ben Husband

Declan Rice labels Hungary player "pathetic" following frustrating England draw

Declan Rice labelled Loic Nego "pathetic" for his part in the incident which saw Hungary awarded a controversial first-half penalty against England.

The Three Lions' wait to confirm World Cup qualification will go on until next month, after being held 1-1 at Wembley.

After cruising to victory in Budapest just six weeks ago, an optimistic home crowd expected more of the same.

But right from the off, the Magyars looked more disciplined, even if their fans failed to show the same trait in the same stands.

For much of the opening exchanges, at least one eye was on the 800 or so travelling fans, who were engaged in skirmishes with police.

But on the pitch, it was Marco Rossi’s side which took the initiative, with a high press causing England issues all over the pitch.

That relentless pressure came to a head when Luke Shaw’s attempted clearance was closed down by Nego in the penalty area.

The Manchester United defender’s foot was high and after a dramatic roll from Nego, referee Alejandro José Hernández Hernández pointed to the spot.

There were England protests, but there was no reprieve from VAR, with Roland Sallai converting from 12 yards.

And while Rice suggested he has seen them given, he took aim at Nego for what he perceived as more than a small dose of play acting.

He told ITV: "Look, when you put your foot up that high - the way he went down was a bit pathetic if I’m being honest, he’s holding his head - if you put your foot up like that now it’s a penalty but I’m going to say it’s not."

Thirteen minutes after the opener, England struck back through John Stones, but failed to ever kick on, with a smattering of boos greeting the full-time whistle.

On the performance, the West Ham midfielder added: "You can say it’s poor because we drew the game but we dominated. Silly penalty to give away, had to keep our heads, keep playing but we just couldn’t find that killing touch at the end to get the win.

Declan Rice was unimpressed following England's frustrating draw with Hungary (ITV Sport)

"You sometimes have to give credit to how the opposition set-up,” Rice continued. “Hungary were much better than they were when we played them away.

“They were really tight, compact, worked hard when you play against low-blocks, it’s hard for our attacking players to create stuff but still think we did enough to win the game."

England now need wins against Albania and Group I whipping boys San Marino next month to secure their place in next winter’s World Cup in Qatar.

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