England midfielder Rice retires from injury, he says he is fine and will continue to play in the World Cup

Rice left the game early due to physical issues in the first game, but he said it was fine and he is not expected to miss the rest of the game. (File photo, Reuters)

[Sports Center/Comprehensive Report] The showdown between England and Croatia, the two major powers in football, was staged in the preliminaries. In the end, England defeated the last World Cup third place Croatia 4:2 and won the first game of Group L. However, the main midfielder Declan Rice seemed to be injured and left the game early.

Rice left the game early in the 72nd minute of the second half. England coach Thomas Tuchel explained that he noticed that Rice had made some unusual drops and noticed that he was a little uncomfortable, so he asked Rice directly about his condition. Rice pointed out that he had problems with his lower back and hamstrings.

After learning of the situation, Tuchel decided to take him off the field early, but emphasized that this arrangement was just "just in case" and the team just didn't want to take more risks.

Rice himself assured that there was no problem, and added that the back and thigh problems had been discovered in the arsenal and were being taken care of. "But there is nothing wrong with it, it's just a precaution."

England will face Ghana in their next game. Tuchel said that he was not surprised that Rice would not miss. He also expected that Rice would not miss the next World Cup.