West Ham United’s Nigerian-born defender, Angelo Obinze Ogbonna says he is very delighted with the maiden England call-up handed his teammate, Declan Rice, who he believes has a lot to offer the game.
While predicting that Rice will be a huge success with The Three Lions, footballlive.ng reports that Ogbonna is thrilled with the prospects of his club having another England international.
Rice was named in the England squad by Gareth Southgate for the first time on Wednesday ahead of the upcoming Euro 2020 qualifiers against Czech Republic and Montenegro.
This is despite the fact that he was named Republic of Ireland’s Young Player of the Year on Tuesday and only received international clearance from FIFA to switch allegiance to England on March 5.
Ogbonna, however, said he is not surprised by his mate’s immediate call-up by England, as he says the lad continues working hard, while also pointing out that he is very ambitious to excel personally and collectively.
The former Juventus and Torino of Italy stopper, who recently extended his stay with The Hammers, added that he had always expected Rice to earn a first call-up to the England squad after excelling this season.
Ogbonna declared: “He has to work hard like he did all this time. He’s a good talent, and he’s ambitious as well. With his quality, he can be in whatever squad.
“We expected it to happen. He has a lot of quality and we’re very happy for him. It’s just the beginning for him, and I wish him the best of luck.”
