Undaunted Terry in fast lane on the road to redemption

Published 23:00 07/02/10

John Terry hit the road back from the wasteland yesterday. He began his long journey not with hesitant steps but with giant strides.

He played as well as he has ever played in a Chelsea shirt as his side swept back to the top of the Premier League with an emphatic victory over Arsenal.

He was utterly commanding and relentlessly unyielding at the back and his magnificent leap to nod on an eighth minute corner set up the opening goal for Didier Drogba.

He played through pain, as he so often does, shrugging off a thigh injury that caused him to limp heavily to lead his team through to the final whistle and ensure Arsene Wenger's side could find no way back.

And at the end, as Stamford Bridge rose to acclaim him with thunderous applause, he marched to all four sides of the ground, chucked his shirt into the Matthew Harding Stand and then ran to the tunnel where Carlo Ancelotti was waiting to wrap him in an embrace.

One great Italian manager, who deals with Terry day to day and week to week, considers him fit to be his captain and yet another does not.

Fabio Capello was lucky that the draw for the 2012 European Championships took him to Warsaw yesterday.

Because he would have been embarrassed if he had been in west London to witness the display of the man he sacked on Friday.

If he had been here, what he would have seen was a man reminding everyone exactly why he is the finest captain England no longer have.

A man who gave a resounding answer to the question so many have been asking this week: what is it that a captain does?

A man who exposed the lie that he was sacked as the skipper of his country for football reasons.

There are many reasons to try to justify Terry's dismissal but none of them are anything to do with football.

In the strained circumstances of recent days, the most pertinent thing about Terry yesterday went beyond the way he played.

What mattered yesterday was the influence he had on those around him.

In every tackle they made, every header they won, every interception they read, every lost ball they chased, they proved what Terry brings to a team as a captain.

When Terry wears the armband, it is a symbol of a team that is committed, a team that is determined, a team that seethes with desperation to win.

That's part of the reason that when Nicolas Anelka contested a 50-50 with Samir Nasri, Anelka won it even though he is hardly known as a demon tackler.

That's part of the reason that whenever there was a loose ball, Chelsea were first to it. Part of the reason why the team was always positive, always decisive.

There is not even a hint that the baiting of the opposition fans is unsettling him or the team he plays for in any way.

Nor is there any reason to believe that it would unsettle him or his teammates when he wears the England shirt.

Terry even braved the press room after the game last night, walking through with friends and shaking hands with many of those who had campaigned for his removal of England skipper.

He must be devastated by the loss of an honour he prized so dearly but he is too strong to submit to that emotion on the pitch.

In the last week, his life has been portrayed as a ruin. Yesterday, he began to rebuild it.

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