Tournament News
England team support Terry
2010-03-04 21:33
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London - John Terry says his England team-mates showed their desire to draw a line under the Wayne Bridge affair by giving the deposed captain their full support before Wednesday's win over Egypt.
Terry has spent the last month as English football's most vilified figure following his reported extra-marital fling with Vanessa Perroncel, the former partner of Manchester City left-back Bridge.
The fall-out from the revelations was spectacular, with Fabio Capello stripping Terry of the England captaincy and Bridge deciding he should go into international exile to avoid being in the same team as his former friend.
After such a traumatic period, it was feared Terry's presence in the squad could prove divisive and distracting when the players met up for the Egypt friendly.
But the 29-year-old claims he was approached by several stars who offered him their backing in the build-up to Wednesday's 3-1 victory.
"The spirit hasn't been damaged at all," Terry said. "Publicly and privately I've had a lot of support from the lads, which is really nice.
"The most important thing was making sure we put in the right performance. We still had that fight and drive, which will never go away.
"The spirit among the lads is fantastic and we showed that coming back from a goal down against a good side. I certainly hope it draws a line under it."
Being welcomed back into the fold was enough of a boost for Terry, but he also avoided the expected hostile reception from the notoriously fickle Wembley fans.
After a mix of boos and cheers greeted the announcement of his name before the match, the jeers for Terry gradually faded as the match wore on.
The Chelsea captain was understandably relieved at the crowd's mostly supportive reaction and paid tribute to them after the match.
"It was important that we came away with a win in front of our own fans," Terry said. "I showed my appreciation after the game. It means a lot the way they responded.
"As Wayne (Rooney) said in the week. It's not just about me, lets forget about that now and concentrate on England at the World Cup."
Terry also eased concerns over his recent poor form for Chelsea with a more authoritative display against Egypt.
Capello's defence still looked far from impregnable as Matthew Upson struggled to fill in for Rio Ferdinand, but Terry insisted he was happy enough with his own day's work.
"We've had a couple of bad results at Chelsea and that seems to be seen as a couple of bad performances for me surprisingly! For me I'm pleased with my performance," he added.
With only two more friendlies against Mexico and Japan to come before England kick off their World Cup campaign against the United States, Terry believes Capello's team are firmly on course to enjoy a successful tournament in South Africa.
"It was a great performance from the team. In the first half I thought we were unlucky not to get a lead in the game and in the second half we did well with (Peter) Crouch helping us when he came on," Terry said.
"We have a really good chance if we can keep playing like that and keep progressing.
"This is what we said 18 months ago. We want to be in this position and game after game we have improved."