Playing for England is the ultimate, insists Terry
AFP-Chelsea defender John Terry said Tuesday he refuses to believe any of England''s injured stars would willingly spurn the chance to play for their country - especially against Germany.
The traditional rivals line-up against each other at Berlin''s Olympic Stadium on Wednesday with England shorn of many of their top names, but Terry has shaken off a foot injury to declare himself fit to face Germany.
Terry, 27, came through Monday''s training session unscathed, but will line-up in an England side minus stars Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand, Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard who have all withdrawn injured.
Doubts emerged whether Gerrard was genuinely injured after he played a full 90 minutes at the weekend, but the Liverpool star later saw an England doctor who confirmed an adductor injury.
And England captain Terry says he fails to believe any player would willingly turn down the chance to play for their country.
"It is disappointing that people could think that is an option, because playing for your country is the ultimate," said Terry at Berlin''s Olympic Stadium.
"Seeing the disappointment on the face of Frank Lampard, for example, he picked up an injury but gave it his best shot to be fit. Every player wants to give it everything for their country."
But England boss Fabio Capello says he will insist injured players are checked by national team doctors - not just their club doctors - in the future before they are declared unfit for internationals.
"We decided to check all the players to see if it''s possible to recover the players or not," said Capello.
"But we have to check their physical condition every time. We respect the club doctors, but it''s right to check."
And Italian Capello insisted there is no club versus country row brewing between himself and England''s Premier League managers as he understands the situation from both sides having coached European giants AC Milan, Juventus and Real Madrid.
"I was manager of clubs and I understand the managers; the players are injured," he said. "We checked Gerrard because he went off in the last minute of Liverpool''s game against Bolton and we found he is injured."
Wednesday''s clash will be the 31st meeting between the two traditional rivals with England leading the series with 14 wins to Germany''s 10.
Few England fans will have forgotten England''s stunning 5-1 win in Munich on September 1 2001 when Michael Owen scored a hat-trick, but Germany won the last meeting between the sides in August 2007 when they poached a 2-1 win at Wembley.
And for Terry there will be no quarter asked or given against Joachim Loew''s Germany side.
"I don''t think there can ever be such a thing as a friendly against Germany," said the Chelsea star. "Certainly in the back of my mind, I can''t forget our defeat to them 15 months ago, we want to use the disappointment from that game to do well here.
"We will have a few new faces here and we can use the opportunity to make a point to the manager."