Contrite England defender John Terry was first out on the training ground this morning as the Three Lions tried to refocus minds ahead of their must-win FIFA World Cup™ clash with Slovenia.

Terry has endured a difficult 24 hours. After taking the option of raising a number of grievances within the England squad in a public forum on Sunday rather than behind closed doors, Terry has found Fabio Capello calling the shots. Capello has accused Terry of making ‘a very big mistake’ in his choice of how to address the issues that have arisen.

The Italian clearly has little sympathy for a group of players who are believed to be unhappy at the monotonous regimentation of life at their Rustenburg training camp. Capello has stated ‘this is the FIFA World Cup, not a holiday’, a statement that is sure to find approval among the many millions of fans back home who have been left aghast at England’s disappointing performances in their opening two games.

With a so-called rebel gang of nine distancing themselves from the former skipper, Terry took the option of offering his apology to Capello. Terry told the Daily Mail: “It was never my intention to upset the manager or the players and, if I did upset anyone, I apologise.

“I have told the manager he has my total support and I would like to stress that I don’t believe I have been a disruptive influence in the camp. I would now like to put this episode behind me and concentrate on trying to win what is a massive game for England.”

England can now only hope, with the matter at an end, they are in the right state of mind to record the win over Slovenia in Port Elizabeth that they so desperately need to avoid taking a humiliating early trip home. With Matthew Upson a confirmed starter, Terry will have a third central defensive partner in as many games.

Although there had been some talk Ledley King could make a quicker than expected return from a groin injury, the Tottenham man did not train today at England’s Rustenburg base, where they opted to stay after being informed by FIFA that the playing surface at the Nelson Mandela Stadium was not capable of hosting two training sessions as well as tomorrow’s match.

Michael Carrick has returned to duty after an ankle injury, although the most likely change would involve Joe Cole being introduced on the left wing, at the expense of Emile Heskey, allowing Wayne Rooney to claim the lone striking slot that he filled with such success at Manchester United this season.

After getting pent-up grievances out in the open over a post-match beer in Cape Town on Friday, England’s unhappy players hope delivering some home truths to Fabio Capello will salvage their FIFA World Cup™ dream.

When he replaced Steve McClaren two-and-a-half years ago, Capello’s hard-line approach was viewed by many as the perfect way of bringing some pride back to the Three Lions. Nine victories from 10 qualifying games proved the value of Capello’s approach.

But after five weeks away, the first two at an altitude training camp in Austria, the inflexibility has shown serious signs of cracking the entire dressing room. In the aftermath of the “unacceptable” draw with Algeria, which leaves England needing to beat Slovenia on Wednesday to avoid crashing out of the competition, John Terry has pleaded for some compassion. The outcome could rescue England – and Capello – from total humiliation.

“I went to see [assistant manager] Franco Baldini after the game and said ‘Flipping hell, let everyone have a beer. Let’s just switch off’,” said Terry, amid a media engagement where he vowed to be frank and honest.

“Usually everyone goes straight back to their room and stays there until the following morning. But for the first time since the manager took over he let us have a beer. We had one each, nothing more than that, and seven or eight of us sat there talking about the game. It was good to get things off our chest and express how we felt.”

The discussions themselves will remain private. But, as they involved, amongst others, Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and David James, it is fair to say they carried a bit of weight. Enough it seems to take the issues raised into a pre-planned team meeting on Sunday evening, knowing Capello’s reaction will either make or break England’s entire time in South Africa.

“The players were able to say how they feel,” said Terry. “If it upset him [Capello] then I was on the verge of just saying ‘So what? I’m here to win it for England’. “If we can’t be honest with each other there is no point being here. It has worked in the past at Chelsea. We have a responsibility to ourselves, the manager and everyone else to voice an opinion and hope he takes it on board.”

Time management is one issue, alleviating boredom another. Team issues, including personnel, would have been raised, if not a demand for individual players to be picked.

It might have come as a shock to Capello, although there were early, unconfirmed, reports it may have some impact with the coach apparently accepting he needs to break his own tradition of only informing players of his team two hours before kick-off, which has been viewed as unsettling.

“Maybe he is a little bit cold,” admitted the Chelsea skipper. “You never know what you will get. He doesn’t constantly shout. He is actually quite calm. But when he is angry, he is really angry.”

Terry added: “Maybe the togetherness has been missing at times. When things don’t go well it is important the group stays together. That is what we had the other night. Hopefully that tension will go now because it would be unacceptable to go home on Wednesday.”

There was something particularly telling about Terry revealing all on Father’s Day. It may seem a minor point to some, but children are being missed, even amongst the most wealthy parents. And in times of strife, it is natural for anyone to seek comfort in the safe and familiar. “I am away from my kids and it is hard,” said Terry. “But I don’t want to go home. I am here to win it.”

To even make the last 16, England need to perform far better than they did against Algeria, universally acknowledged as a poor display, even inside the dressing room. “I certainly felt there was a lack of passion,” he said. “On paper we are a much better team than Algeria but there was no tackling, no-one winning headers, no-one winning second balls.

“It was not acceptable. You have to show a bit of aggression and a bit of fight. No player had that fire in their belly. I can assure everyone it is going to be there against Slovenia.”

Enigmatic England must find the solution to their poor FIFA World Cup™ start against Slovenia here Wednesday or face the ignominy of crashing out in the group stage for the first time since 1958. The opening 1-1 draw with the United States and the uninspiring goalless stalemate with Algeria has left a team hyped up as one of the pre-tournament favourites with little room for manoeuvre.

Three points against Slovenia would ensure England progress to the last 16 and a possible date with Germany. Defeat and they will be heading for the airport, while a draw will leave their fate hanging on the result of the United States v Algeria game being played simultaneously in Pretoria.

Underperforming Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard and Co left the pitch in Cape Town on Friday night with boos from a section of their fans ringing in their ears. Fabio Capello has said he is “mystified” at the gulf between England’s polished displays in qualifying and training and their toothless performances in Group C.

John Terry on Sunday denied Capello’s suggestion that England were paralysed by fear against Algeria, but did agree with the Italian’s accusation of a lack of passion. “I don’t think any player had that the other night. I’m sure on Wednesday, everyone will have the fire in their bellies,” Terry said.

Terry’s Chelsea and England teammate Frank Lampard insists that media talk of a crisis meeting between the players and Capello were over-hyped. “I’ve not read the reports but from what I hear, I think it has been completely overdone in terms of crisis meeting and things like that,” Lampard said, adding the players had sat through a video of their last match. “The Algeria game had to be addressed and it was not nice viewing,” he admitted.

Yet as they approach this defining moment England can take heart from history. In 1990 the Three Lions found themselves in a similar predicament. Under then-manager Bobby Robson they had opened their Italy 90 campaign with two draws, against the Republic of Ireland and the Netherlands, leaving them requiring a win against Egypt to qualify. They made it, and went on to reach the semi-finals.

Then there is the more recent case of France, at the 2006 finals in Germany. Shackled by the fear of repeating their woeful FIFA World Cup display in 2002, France began badly, drawing with Switzerland and South Korea. That left Zinedine Zidane and his teammates requiring victory over Togo, which they achieved. With qualification assured it was a totally unrecognisable France that turned up in Hanover to sweep aside Spain, Brazil and Portugal, before losing the final on penalties to Italy.

Capello believes his England can emulate the class of 1990 and Les Bleus four years ago. “I hope that after playing a big performance the minds of the players will be free and we can play like the England that I know,” the Italian said.

The England boss must decide whether to make significant changes to his line-up. Joe Cole – arguably England’s best player in Germany four years ago – is one of the cards he has yet to play. England’s depleted back four will also have to be reshuffled once more with Jamie Carragher suspended.

Unlike England, table toppers Slovenia need only a draw to progress after a 1-0 defeat of Algeria and a 2-2 draw with the United States.

Whatever happens on the pitch an electric atmosphere is assured off it with England’s sizeable travelling fan club set to wake up this sleepy Eastern Cape port. Whether England wake up is another matter.

John Terry hopes to play in the FA Cup final on Saturday after a scan showed no broken bone in his right foot.

The Chelsea skipper hurt his foot in training this morning, leading to fears that he may have broken a metatarsal, but a scan has revealed no major problem.

Terry said in a statement: “I took a slight knock in training but with such an important match on Saturday the right course of action was to put a protective boot on my right foot and have a CT scan. The scan has shown there is no break and I am hoping to train tomorrow if not Friday and of course play in the FA Cup final on Saturday.”

The knock had been a cause for concern for both Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti ahead of the final against Portsmouth and England manager Fabio Capello, who announced his provisional 30-man 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ squad yesterday.

Terry, stripped of the England captaincy following allegations about his private life this season, was named in Capello’s squad alongside fellow centre-halves Rio Ferdinand, Jamie Carragher, Michael Dawson, Ledley King and Matthew Upson.

England’s other injury woes
There have been other pre-finals injury scares for England. Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney limped out of Sunday’s match against Stoke but, like Ferdinand and Terry, has since received a positive diagnosis on his injury. Midfielder Gareth Barry is Capello’s biggest ongoing injury concern while David Beckham was ruled out of the tournament earlier this season.

In hauling Carragher out of retirement and naming King in his 30-man provisional South Africa 2010 squad yesterday, even though the Tottenham skipper cannot train due to a chronic knee problem, Capello was already signalling he was not entirely happy with his central defensive options.

To lose Terry would have been a major blow for both Ancelotti and Capello. Even if he is no longer captain, Capello still regards the 29-year-old as “a leader” and he will undoubtedly be in his side for the Group C opener against the United States in Rustenburg on 12 June.

The club had stressed that Terry had been “walking freely” after the incident. Terry had partnered Brazilian Alex in central defence on Sunday as Carlo Ancelotti’s side hammered Wigan 8-0 to win the Premier League for the first time in four years.

source : www.fifa.com

Chelsea and England centre-half John Terry is undergoing a “precautionary scan” on his right foot after picking up a knock in training today.

The news comes as a blow for Chelsea’s preparations as they attempt to win the double when they face Portsmouth in Saturday’s FA Cup final and if it proves to be a more serious problem, his participation in the FIFA World Cup™ could be in doubt.

A statement from the club said: “John Terry has today taken a knock in training and has gone to hospital for a precautionary scan on his right foot. He left Cobham walking freely in a protective boot, and we await the results which are expected on Thursday.”

It also gives England coach Fabio Capello a headache as he prepares for the FIFA World Cup in South Africa and the Italian will undoubtedly be monitoring the situation carefully. Terry, stripped of the England captaincy following allegations about his private life this season, was yesterday named in Capello’s provisional 30-man FIFA World Cup squad alongside fellow centre-halves Rio Ferdinand, Jamie Carragher, Michael Dawson, Ledley King and Matthew Upson.

Should the injury rule Terry out of Saturday’s Wembley showpiece it would represent the latest in a line of pre-tournament injury scares for England. Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney limped out of Sunday’s match against Stoke but, like Red Devils colleague Rio Ferdinand, has received a positive diagnosis from his club. Midfielder Gareth Barry is Capello’s biggest ongoing injury concern while David Beckham was ruled out of the tournament earlier this season.

source : www.fifa.com