Terry, John life and biography

John George Terry (born 7 December 1980) is an English professional footballer. Terry plays in a centre back position and is the captain of Chelsea in the Premier League. Terry was also captain of the England national football team from August 2006 until February 2010.

Terry was voted best defender in the UEFA Champions League in both 2005 and 2008, the PFA Players' Player of the Year in 2005, and was included in the FIFPro World XI for four consecutive seasons, from 2005 to 2008. He was also named in the all-star squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the only English player to make the team. He wears the number 26 shirt for Chelsea.

In 2007, he became the first captain to lift the FA Cup at the new Wembley Stadium in Chelsea’s 1-0 win over Manchester United, and also the first player to score a full international goal there, scoring a header in England’s 1-1 draw with Brazil. However, the 2007-08 season saw Terry and Chelsea miss out on three trophies, losing the League Cup Final to Tottenham Hotspur and Premier League and UEFA Champions League to Manchester United with Terry missing a penalty in the Champions League final shootout, sending it to sudden death. Had he scored, the European Cup would have been secured for Chelsea. After the final in Moscow, teammate Frank Lampard described Terry as "a man's man".

International career

Terry was the captain of the England national team under Steve McClaren and he made his debut in June 2003 against Serbia and Montenegro. On August 20, 2003, Terry made his full international debut for England at Portman Road, Ipswich, in a friendly against Croatia. England won the game 3-1. His main defensive partner is Rio Ferdinand. He played for his country at Euro 2004, and England Manager Sven-Göran Eriksson stated that Terry was the first-choice centre back, ahead of Sol Campbell.

In a FIFA World Cup Qualifying match against Poland, Terry had the honour of wearing England’s captain armband, replacing Michael Owen as captain after the latter was subbed.

He has cemented his place in the England squad by being selected for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. In a warm-up match for that tournament against Hungary on 30 May 2006, Terry scored his first goal for England, the team’s second in a 3-1 victory. Despite an injury scare in a friendly against Jamaica, he recovered to play in England’s opening fixture against Paraguay, a 1-0 victory.

In the next match against Trinidad and Tobago, Carlos Edwards beat England’s Paul Robinson to a cross and as Stern John bundled a header towards the goal, Terry cleared the ball off the line with an overhead kick. In the quarter-finals match against Portugal, Terry played the entire match, but England lost on penalties and he was left in tears with his fellow players. Six days later, he was the only English player to be named in the tournament’s all-star squad.

On 10 August 2006, Steve McClaren named John Terry as the England captain, succeeding David Beckham. McClaren said, "Choosing a captain is one of the most important decisions a coach has to make. I’m certain I’ve got the right man in John Terry. I’m convinced he will prove to be one of the best captains England has ever had." Terry scored a goal on his debut as the England captain, in a friendly international against Greece. This was the first goal of the match and, as such, the first goal during McClaren’s reign as manager. When celebrating he kissed his new captain’s armband. However, with Terry as captain, England did not qualify for Euro 2008 — their first absence from a tournament finals since the 1994 World Cup. Midway through the qualification campaign, Terry had accepted that he would "bear full responsibility" should England fail to qualify.

On 1 June 2007, Terry became the first player in the senior England team to score an international goal at the new Wembley Stadium when he scored England’s goal in a 1-1 draw with Brazil. He scored from a header in the box after a free kick cross by David Beckham. Almost a year later, he scored a similar headed goal once again from a freekick cross by David Beckham to put England 1-0 up against the USA on 28 May 2008.

Terry was confirmed as the England captain in August, and will captain England in qualifying for the 2010 World Cup. During his first match after being reinstated as the permanent England captain he was given a torrid time by Milan Baros and was turned far too easily when Baros scored the first goal for the Czech Republic. The match ended 2-2 with Joe Cole scoring a fortunate equaliser for England in the 92nd minute of the game. He scored his first competitive England goal against Ukraine in the qualifiers for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, grabbing a late winner after earlier giving away a free kick which saw Andriy Shevchenko equalise for Ukraine.

On 5 February 2010 following allegations regarding Terry's private life, Fabio Capello announced that Terry was removed as the captain of the England team. He was replaced by fellow defender Rio Ferdinand.

Family and personal life

Terry's parents are Ted and Sue. His brother, Paul (born 1979), is also a professional footballer currently with Conference National side Rushden & Diamonds.
Despite being a one club man with Chelsea in his professional career, Terry was a Manchester United supporter growing up.

Terry currently lives in Oxshott, Surrey. He and his wife Toni are the parents of twins, a boy and a girl, born in 2006 in Westminster, London. Terry celebrated their birth when scoring for England against Hungary, when he performed a baby-rocking celebration. The couple married at Blenheim Palace on 15 June 2007.

In 2009, Terry was named "Dad of the Year" after he came top of a poll of UK adults in a Daddies Sauce survey.

In January 2010, a super-injunction was imposed by a High Court judge preventing the media from reporting that Terry had had a four-month affair in late 2009 with Vanessa Perroncel, the former girlfriend of Wayne Bridge, his former Chelsea and current England teammate. The injunction was lifted a week later, and the British media — especially the tabloid press — covered it in great detail in the days following. Capello then dropped Terry from the England captaincy on 5 February 2010, replacing him with Rio Ferdinand.

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