There was a spare seat on the flight back from Moscow yesterday.
You know what is coming. Chelsea captain John Terry and the
European Cup, side by side. That was the way it was meant to be
after a bleary-eyed Terry surfaced in his suite at the Ritz Hotel,
just off Moscow's Red Square yesterday morning. Instead, he was
haunted by The Miss of Misses.
Steven Gerrard had beaten him to it in 2005, waking up next to
the trophy the day after Liverpool's memorable comeback in
Istanbul. "Morning gorgeous," he whispered as he rolled over and
kissed The Cup of Cups.
No wonder Gerrard's stunning wife Alex had something to say
about it, but surely nothing beats the feeling of lifting the
European Cup. Terry was choking as he walked off the field at the
Luzhniki Stadium and who wouldn't be? A penalty kick away from
becoming a European Cup-winning captain.
Has that sunk in? A European Cup-winning captain. Sir Bobby
Charlton, Johan Cruyff, Franz Beckenbauer and Paolo Maldini - the
list of legends goes on. Terry can name them all, familiarising
himself with the rollcall on the way to the Luzhniki Stadium on
Wednesday in the same way as he has a bizarre habit of counting the
number of lamp posts on the way to training each day.
He spoke to Ted, his father, on the bus back to the Ritz on
Wednesday night. 'They've cancelled the party because of me,' he
told him, tears streaming down his cheeks and telling his father
that he was unable to cope with seeing him.
Instead, he went to his hotel room with his wife, Toni. She knew
this was the one he wanted, the moment when the Chelsea captain
would corner his own bit of history. He does not quite know how he
slipped on the rain-soaked turf.
All he can remember is walking to the penalty spot, padding down
the turf where he would place his left foot and concentrating on
the moment he would hammer the ball beyond Edwin van der Sar.
Then the real celebrations would begin. Boom! Terry would have
been leading the charge, saluting the supporters and sharing turns
to kiss the Cup with Frank Lampard and Joe Cole.
"It was in our grasp and then John slips,' said Lampard. 'Take
nothing away from him because he had the balls to step up and take
it. Not many centre halves would take the last penalty. I would
have put my house on John. He is a character and taking penalties
in those situations needs character.
"He is Mr Chelsea and I'd like to see someone care like he does.
I went through it at the World Cup and I know how much it
hurts."
