England win thanks to two players "betraying Ireland"

*Scorers: Rice 11, Grealish 26

Before the match at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, the three people who attracted the most attention were Rice, Grealish and acting England coach Lee Carsley. They all played for Ireland, but now work for England. Ireland have England as their rivals, and home fans also hung a banner with Rice and Grealish on the Aviva Stadium, with the comment: "The traitors are back".

Carsley was heavily criticised by the British media for announcing that he would not sing the national anthem, but he escaped pressure from the Dublin crowd. On the contrary, Rice and Grealish were constantly whistled and booed whenever they had the ball.

Ironically for Ireland, Rice opened the scoring with a rebound from inside the penalty area that hit the roof of the net in the 11th minute. The 25-year-old midfielder raised his arms to signal not to celebrate, as most of the home crowd remained silent.

Rice was born in London in 1999, but is eligible to play for Ireland because his paternal grandparents are Irish. He represented Ireland at U17, U19 and U21 levels, then started three friendlies for the national team in 2018, with the promise of a future captaincy. But when England approached him, the 1.88m midfielder switched to the Three Lions from then on.

Rice also assisted Grealish to make it 2-0 in the 26th minute. Unlike his previous teammate, Grealish celebrated by spreading his arms out to the side, then pointing to his head. Immediately, thousands of Aviva fans whistled and booed the 29-year-old midfielder.

Grealish, born in Birmingham in 1995, is also eligible to play for Ireland, like Rice. He played for Ireland's youth teams, then earned a call-up to the senior team in 2014. But he then moved to the U21s and then England, and is a regular like Rice.

Carsley made an impressive debut, although he may not have been too happy to beat his home team. The Three Lions showed a fresh look in attack, passing the ball more quickly and directly than under Gareth Southgate. However, Ireland, ranked 60th in the FIFA rankings, are still not a worthy opponent for England, who are playing in League B of the UEFA Nations League.

In the next match on the evening of September 10, England will return to Wembley to face Finland - a team that is also outside the FIFA Top 60.