New York, July 14 (IANS) England will be hoping midfielder Declan Rice is fully fit for their World Cup semifinal against Argentina after Saturday’s quarterfinal win over Norway underlined his importance to Thomas Tuchel’s side.

The 27-year-old, who has made 78 appearances for England, started the quarterfinal despite suffering from an illness, but looked well below his best and was replaced by Eberechi Eze after halftime.

Eze’s introduction allowed Norway to gain control of central midfield, prompting Tuchel to bring on right-back Reece James to shore things up. However, England did not regain its balance until Morgan Rogers was introduced in the closing stages, reports Xinhua.

Rice missed the 2-0 win over Panama in the final group match, with a long-standing back problem and a slight hamstring strain keeping him on the sidelines, but his partnership with Elliot Anderson has been one of the foundations of England’s progress to the last four.

Rice’s importance to England has been magnified by the wrist injury that ruled Jordan Henderson out of the World Cup after he fell over an advertising hoarding while celebrating the 3-2 win over Mexico.

Kobbie Mainoo appears to be the most natural replacement for Rice, but despite a strong second half of the season with Manchester United, he has not played a single minute for England at the World Cup.

Tuchel dropped Jude Bellingham into central midfield against Panama, while Eze came on as a substitute for Rice against Norway, with James also filling in as Mainoo watched from the sidelines.

None of those experiments has proved particularly successful, with England looking flat against Panama and losing control of the game when Eze played alongside Anderson.

With Argentina likely to pack its midfield with Enzo Fernández, Alexis Mac Allister, Rodrigo De Paul, and Leandro Paredes, England will need to be ready for a midfield battle in Atlanta. That means Rice must play and be back to his best.

–IANS

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