John Terry

Written by Rob Eddy

England Player Profiles

Whatever happens at this summer's World Cup, John Terry is a man who will be very much under the spotlight following recent allegations about his private life that led to him being stripped of the England captaincy.

 
The 29-year-old had led the Three Lions through an impressive qualification campaign but will now have to 'prove' himself again as those claims led to Wayne Bridge ruling himself out of consideration for the squad and question marks have arisen over Terry's effect on team spirit and morale.
 
John George Terry has been a one-club man through his career to date, having joined Chelsea's youth system at the age of 14 in 1997 before finally establishing himself in the first team in the 2000-01 season, culminating in being voted as the club's player of the year.
 
He performed well enough under Claudio Ranieri to share the captaincy duties with Marcel Desailly when the latter was out of the side, before being confirmed as the skipper when Jose Mourinho took the reins.
 
Terry of course led Chelsea to back-to-back League titles as the Blues also began to establish themselves as one of Europe's powerhouses, with Terry voted the best defender in the Champions League in the 2004-05 season while he also won the Players Player of the Year award in England and was selected in the World XI at the FIFPro awards.
 
On the international stage, Terry made his debut as a substitute against Serbia and Montenegro in 2003 before going on to establish himself as Sven Goran Eriksson's first-choice centre-back for Euro 2004.
 
The Chelsea defender had now cemented his place in the national side and scored his first goal for his country in a warm-up match for the 2006 World Cup against Hungary at Old Trafford.
 
Ten-man England went on to lose on penalties to Portugal in the quarter-finals - with Terry the only England player to be named in the team of the tournament - leading to the end of Eriksson's reign, and the new man at the helm, Steve McClaren, gave Terry the captain's armband on a permanent basis.
 
Terry has often been accused of lacking the pace for the highest level, but he shows an excellent reading of the game, his commitment to the cause goes without question and he is a dangerous threat at set-pieces.
 
Terry has bagged six goals in 59 England caps to date, scoring the winner against Ukraine at Wembley in qualification, and he will certainly be determined to win back the doubters with an impressive England showing.

John Terry Interview

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