England and West Ham footballer Declan Rice has shown his approval after fans tattooed his name on their legs – but the move has received savage mockery from others.
Midfielder Rice formed a formidable partnership with Leeds United's Kalvin Philips at Euro 2020, where the 22-year-old was one of the breakout stars as the Three Lions went all the way to the final.
Despite suffering heartbreak in the defeat at Wembley to Italy, two fanatics have decided to honor the exploits of the No4, who a string of top Premier League clubs are now keen to ink a deal with.
When he caught wind of the tribute, which is a continuation of a popular terrace chant that is based on 1995 dance hit 'The Bomb!' by The Bucketheads, Rice retweeted their post to his Twitter contingent of more than 311,000 followers.
"Beef chow mein, Declan Riceeee. Love it," wrote the Londoner above two photos showing two thighs bearing those words, which form the lyrics to the unlikely anthem.
Sadly for the Rice devotees, not everyone matched their hero's enthusiasm towards their tributes.
"Be honest: are you all ready regretting it?," asked one onlooker. "You’ve had a shocker, mate."
There was a pivotal moment where you looked at each other knowing the tat was utter Kak…. your eyes screaming to the other “ for the Love of God stop this “ but you decided to say
On July 8 – the morning after England beat Denmark 2-1 in the semifinals – producer Charlie Burley revealed that he had "drunkenly agreed to get a tattoo of beef chow mein with Declan Rice’s face on it".
"It is happening this afternoon. F*ck my life," he added.
True to his word, Burley went to his nearest studio and got the work done.
Okay I may have drunkenly agreed to get a tattoo of beef chow mein with Declan Rice’s face on it. It is happening this afternoon. FML 🥴 #England#ThreeLions
Revealing that he had made the vow if England reached their first final since 1966 while "championing" the chow mein chant, Burley showed the design off days later.
And while England fell at the last hurdle, Rice enamored himself to fans again with his actions in Hungary earlier this month.
Rice picked up a cup thrown on to the pitch and drank from it after his team scored one of their goals in a 4-0 World Cup qualifying rout which saw some players receive racist abuse and the taking of the knee jeered among a hostile atmosphere.
I said if #England got to the #EURO2020 final I would get a #tattoo. After championing the Declan Rice chant for the past week, this was the clear winner!
England coach Gareth Southgate wasn't blown away by Rice's antics. "Declan is usually in most memes that get posted on social media in one way or another," the boss said later.
