Declan Rice was targeted by Rafael van der Vaart after Spain defeated England 2-1 in Sunday’s Euro 2024 final.

During England’s seven-game campaign in Germany, Rice played every minute of it, including the entire ninety on Sunday.

Van van Vaart, a former player for Tottenham and the Netherlands, was unimpressed with the Arsenal midfielder’s performance.

In July of last year, Rice, who paid Arsenal £105 million upon signing from West Ham, a rival team in London, attempted 40 passes against Spain, more than any of his teammates combined.

The 25-year-old, however, came under fire from Van der Vaart for not playing enough of those passes forward.

Declan Rice pictured looking dejected after England’s 2-1 defeat by Spain in the Euros final

Arsenal midfielder Rice played the full 90 minutes for England in Berlin on Sunday night

Based on Sunday’s game, Rafael van der Vaart, shown in 2022, was highly critical of Rice.

Van der Vaart stated on NOS in his native country, “100m for Declan Rice… what does he do?”

He approaches to pick up a ball, but he ends up passing it back to John Stones. He is not worth it.

“If you are genuinely worth 100 metres, you ought to be able to advance the ball.”

Following his Sunday appearance, Rice has made 58 senior international appearances for England.

Of those appearances, nineteen have occurred at significant competitions.

Rice pictured walking past the trophy with a silver medal around his neck after Sunday’s final

One of Tottenham’s top players in the 2010–11 and 2011–12 campaigns was Van der Vaart.

Van der Vaart was capped 109 times by the Netherlands during his playing career. He scored 28 goals in 77 games for Spurs between 2010 and 2012.

He finished with 25 goals for his nation, one of which came at Euro 2012.