LONDON — John Terry insisted Tuesday none of the England squad has a problem with him being reinstated as permanent captain of the national soccer team.
The Chelsea skipper will lead his country out against Wales in Saturday’s Euro 2012 qualifier at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff after being handed the armband for a second time by coach Fabio Capello.
The move comes just over a year after he was removed from the role following allegations he had an affair with the former girlfriend of ex-teammate Wayne Bridge.
It had been suggested that Capello’s decision to replace Rio Ferdinand with Terry as captain had caused a divide in the squad, but Terry said no one had spoken to him or Capello about the decision after the squad linked up on Tuesday.
“When the manager confronted the team on the training pitch [Tuesday morning to tell them of Terry’s reinstatement], he asked the players if they had any questions and nobody spoke. Nobody said a word to the manager, nobody said a word to me,” said Terry.
“I’m not going to be everybody’s cup of tea, but it is the decision the manager has taken.
Terry confirmed that Ferdinand had contacted him to wish him well after his reinstatement.
“Rio called me, which was a very nice touch and goes to show what a great man Rio is,” Terry said.
“We had a 10-minute conversation and he wished me well. He cares about England and said the most important thing was to keep winning.
“He was naturally disappointed, but said the most important thing was to keep winning.”
Terry he admitted he suffered a sleepless night before his first training back as captain Tuesday.
“I had the worst night’s sleep ever,” Terry said.
“I was pretty nervous, to be honest. Coming out [Tuesday] and having to deal with the questions and stuff like that was like the first day back at school.
“It is an intimidating thing, even though I have been in this position many times before.”
