John Terry won't buckle and that's why he must lead England at the World Cup - Oliver Holt comment

By Oliver Holt in Mirror Football Blog

Published 22:30 31/01/10

Some people wondered how John Terry would cope against Burnley on Saturday.

Some people thought he might not even travel to the North West with Chelsea.

They thought he might stay at home and out of the spotlight. They thought he might duck it. Lie low for a while.

Other players would have done, no question. But Terry is not like that.

Question his behaviour off the pitch all you want but the critical issue remains his ability to keep playing as one of the best centre-halves in the world.

If he had buckled under the pressure of the furore surrounding his private life on Saturday, then maybe the questions about whether he can keep his job as England captain might have had some legitimacy.

But Terry didn't buckle. He didn't even look like buckling. Typically, in fact, he reacted by scoring a superb late winner that kept his team at the top of the Premier League.

He did not celebrate wildly. He did not perform cart-wheels. He turned and ran back to his own half, brushing off the congratulations of his team-mates.

Perhaps he felt the stories about him had stripped him of much of his dignity and now he wanted to claw some of it back.

On one of the most important days of his career, a day when a lot of people were willing him to fail, he gave a captain's performance.

He proved everything he needed to prove for his club and his country.

He reminded his critics that their demands he should be relieved of the captaincy because his private life is in tumult are ridiculous.

If we are looking for an England squad of blameless innocents, we will have to search for a long, long time and settle on a squad of 23 six-year-olds.

If, however, it's footballers strong enough to stand up in adversity that we're looking for, then Terry will be leading his country out for the first match against the USA in June.