England star Rice relishing going up against Germany’s Kroos months after Twitter exchange with ‘special’ German
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DECLAN RICE can't wait to face Toni Kroos on Tuesday night after their Twitter love-in earlier this year.
The West Ham midfielder revealed his admiration for Germany's stalwart on social media back in April.
And Kroos responded to Rice's kind words on social media straight after Real Madrid's Champions League win over Liverpool.
Rice tweeted back in April: "Watching Toni Kroos is very special".
And the Real Madrid midfielder said "thanks mate" in appreciation of Rice's post.
The pair will square off on Tuesday night at Wembley in the last-16 at Euro 2020.
In a previous post, Rice was also complimentary of Bayern Munich forward Thomas Muller.
He tweeted after the 2020 Champions League final: "Muller has to be up there as one of the most underrated players of all time! Serious footballer."
And Rice said on Friday: "I can't remember what my tweet was actually but I woke up to him saying 'thanks mate'.
"It was a good moment to be fair and the lads at West Ham were giving me a bit for it.
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"When there are the big games on and you are watching, you appreciate top footballers. Obviously that night I felt the need to say (what I did) about Muller and Toni Kroos.
"I am relishing to go out there and put myself up against the best. It is England v Germany, round of 16, at Wembley, it is going to be proper, so I need to go out there and give a solid performance myself and as a team.
"Kroos is world class, other midfielders like me we want to test ourselves. But we need to impose game and be physical on him and stop him spraying it around the pitch."
England trained on Friday ahead of their mammoth showdown with rivals Germany on Tuesday.
Gareth Southgate's men looked relaxed at St George's Park as they ramped up their preparations.
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Rice added: "What's there to fear really? Obviously, yeah they're great players, but it's a game of footbal.
"It's 90 minutes - we have got players that can win us games and they've got players that can win them games as well.
"It's going to be a real battle out there but one that we're going to be up for and we're really positive and ready for."