A hat-trick from Harry Kane, a clean sheet, and three more points. To virtually everyone watching, England’s 4-0 victory against Bulgaria in 2019 appeared to be a routine Euro qualifying success for Gareth Southgate’s team.
However, Declan Rice and Mason Mount’s England debut came after 12 years of hard work and friendship.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, Mount said: ‘We’ve obviously known each other for a very, very long time and always speaking about maybe that opportunity of playing with each other again.’
The two initially met when they were eight years old. They were starting their football careers in the Chelsea Academy, when their dreams of professional contracts and England call-ups were still just that.
When chatting with the Guardian in 2019, the couple could still recollect how they met all those years ago, beginning their adventure to play for England.
‘It would have been a Tuesday night at training,’ Rice says. ‘We saw each other four times a week from the age of eight till we were fourteen.’
Rice was 14 when he heard the news that no young football player wants to hear. The midfielder was set to be released from the club where he had spent six years and would have to seek new pastures, away from Chelsea and his best friend.
The pair started their journey at the Chelsea Academy and are now key players for England
‘It was really tough,’ admits Rice. ‘Chelsea was all I knew and having to move to West Ham, I didn’t know what was going to happen.’
Testament to their friendship, Rice’s release hit Mount and his family almost just as hard.
The Chelsea midfielder said: ‘We had been together for a long time. My mum and his mum were on the phone crying together.’
It was here that their journeys began to take different paths.
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Mount vs Rice is always a terrific battle when the two clash for their opposite domestic sides.
Mount, like many young Chelsea players, went on loan to Vitesse and succeeded. Following that, he returned to England and signed on loan with Derby County, where he learned under the mentorship and supervision of the Blues’ record goal scorer, Frank Lampard.
Many Chelsea fans regard Mount to be Lampard’s heir, and the time they spent together was invaluable. Mount was eventually given his chance in the Chelsea first team during the 2019-20 season, following Lampard’s appointment as head coach, and has not looked back since.
While Chelsea’s attacking midfielder pursued other options, Rice quietly established himself as England’s most consistent centre midfielder. The teenager made his Premier League debut at the end of the 2016-17 season and soon established himself as the beating heart of any Hammers squad.
Mount spoke to the UMM YouTube channel about their many football escapades.
‘It’s weird because we’re just boys, we’ve grown up together. We’ve both been on our different journeys and now [we’re] coming back together, playing against each other and playing with each other. It’s mad.’
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Mount went on loan to Vitesse (pictured) and Derby and excelled before his return to Chelsea
Both midfielders have changed coaches at club level, but their importance to their respective teams has never diminished.
Mount is a key piece in any Chelsea XI, with his versatility in midfield and attack especially useful, and Rice is now West Ham’s captain, solidifying his status as a club hero.
The pair will almost certainly travel to their first World Cup together, and they will undoubtedly play vital roles if England is to succeed.
From Mount’s 4-0 defeat of Bulgaria to lining up together in the Euro 2020 final, here’s hope the Cobham youngsters can continue to bring England supporters with lots of memories in future tournaments.
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The pair will be hoping that their off-field chemistry will translate to the World Cup in Qatar
