Football Insane

John Terry has been stripped of the England captaincy following reports of an extra-marital affair with the ex-girlfriend of international team-mate Wayne Bridge, Sky News reported on Friday, citing unidentified sources.

There was no immediate official confirmation of the report, which came after Terry met England coach Fabio Capello at Football Association (FA) headquarters at Wembley.

Terry had been summoned to meet Capello after a week of intense scrutiny of the Chelsea defender’s suitability to lead England at the World Cup in South Africa in June and July.
Capello had been under pressure to strip the Chelsea defender of the captaincy from sections of the media that have spent the last week lambasting the married father of two over his alleged infidelity with Vanessa Perroncel, an underwear model who has a son with Bridge but is now estranged from the Manchester City left-back.

Terry had been strongly backed by his club coach Carlo Ancelotti, who has insisted that the player’s private life will have no bearing on his position as Chelsea skipper, and Stuart Pearce, who coaches England’s under-21s and helps Capello with the senior squad. Read more…

Cristiano Ronaldo said Monday he was ready to answer the call for Portugal in Saturday’s crucial World Cup qualifier at home to Hungary after missing Real Madrid’s first Liga loss of the season at Seville with an ankle injury.

“I have recovered well. We’ll see how things go but I think I’ll be fine come Saturday,” Ronaldo said on arriving at Obidos, where the squad are preparing for a match which will go some way to deciding if they can snatch a playoff place after a poor showing in Group One.

The Portuguese currently stand third – five points behind leaders Denmark and two adrift of Sweden, while Hungary are level on points with Carlos Queiroz’s side, rendering a win imperative ahead of an expected three easy points in their final game against Malta.

The Swedes have a tough encounter away to the Danes on Saturday.

“These are decisive matches which we must win,” observed Ronaldo, who said that team spirit was “fantastic” despite his country’s irregular showing to date.

But he warned: “If we don’t believe we can do it (qualify) then it’s not worth showing up for the national side.” Ronaldo insisted that the Hungarians were there for the taking.

“They are a physically strong team, but if Portugal play normally they will – and must – win.”

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