‘King Kong’ goalkeeper going through England could not match via door at Romford’s Nando’s
England ace Declan Rice will be reunited with former team-mate Rihards Matrevics – who is nicknamed King Kong in Latvia thanks to his size and apparently couldn’t even fit into the Nando’s in Romford
Rihards Matrevics isn’t a name all too familiar to football fans – even though he once turned out alongside Declan Rice.
The towering 6ft 7in shot-stopper will be part of the Latvian side as they travel to Wembley to clash with Three Lions on Monday evening. And it will be a reunion of sorts for Rice.
Rice and Matrevics, who is nicknamed King Kong in Latvia because of his size, were once team-mates at West Ham – and Rice has joked he couldn’t fit through the door at the Nando’s in Romford.
The Arsenal star said: “I stayed with him, he was at West Ham with me as a kid and we lived together in a house together. When you’re an academy player you stay in a house with another family and we stayed together.
“He’s from Latvia and I see the other night that he was on the bench. so I’m really looking forward to seeing him because I’ve not seen him for years.
“It’s crazy because if he starts tomorrow you’ll see he’s about 7ft5, he’s so tall. Honestly, I’m not lying, he’s so, so tall. I remember him when he came to West Ham, he was like, wow, this guy’s a beast.”
And after being reminded of his nickname by a Latvian journalist, he continued: “King Kong, there you go. He’s so, so tall honestly.
“He couldn’t speak much English at the time but by the end his English was unbelievable, really, really good. Got on with everyone.
“We had a lot of times where we’d get free time, we’d go out for some food, we’d go to Nando’s in Romford because we stayed in Essex and he’d have to duck down to get underneath the door, he’s that tall.
“So he was such a good guy and I’m really looking forward to seeing him tomorrow because it’s been a long time.
“The other night, that was one of the first things I checked to see if he was involved and obviously I see he was involved. so it’ll be nice to see him tomorrow night.”
Matrevics left West Ham in 2018, he moved to Barnet, where he would make his senior debut, before bouncing around in non-league with Hendon and St Albans.
He would move back to Latvia in 2021. Matrevics currently turns out for FK Auda in the Latvian Higher League and he has 12 appearances for the national team.
