Terry breaks silence on Capello's decision to quit over him

John Terry has broken his silence on Fabio Capello - and paid the former England boss a glowing public tribute.

Capello walked out on the FA last month after Wembley chairman David Bernstein told the Italian he had to drop the Chelsea star as his captain while he faced charges of racially abusing QPR centre-half Anton Ferdinand.

The ex-England manager quit his job claiming it was a matter of principle that he should make the football decisions­ as he saw fit.

And defender Terry, who would have missed the recent friendly with Holland through injury, took the opportunity to tell the world what he thought of his old Three Lions chief.

Terry, aware that the FA are unlikely to look kindly on his comments, said: “Quite clearly, Fabio backed me. That comes from the relationship between us, the relationship we built up.

“He knows I stood for him on the football pitch, and he stood up for me off the pitch.

“I respect that from him, I respect him as a man and for what he did for me. All I can say is that there is complete respect both ways.”

The FA were content for Terry to remain as captain when the allegations against him first emerged and even after he was charged.

But once his trial date was set after the European Championship, they performed a U-turn - a decision Capello completely disagreed with.

The Italian's successor, currently interim manager Stuart Pearce, will be free to select Terry for Euro 2012 but not to restore him as skipper.