Terry could be greater captain than Moore
442 Staff - Friday 21 November 2008, 12:32
Tony Cascarino believes John Terry could be greater than 1966 World Cup winning captain Bobby Moore.
The former Chelsea striker hailed the Three Lions skipper’s heroic performance during England’s 2-1 win against Germany in Berlin.
Terry, who played his part in a defensive mix-up with Scott Carson that handed Patrick Helmes the equaliser, picked himself up to score an 84th-minute winner.
“Once again John Terry proved himself to be the perfect England captain with yet another heroic performance in Germany on Wednesday evening,” said Cascarino, now a pundit for The New Football Pools.
“He has proved himself a great captain for his club side Chelsea and will prove himself to be one of the very best England captains of all time if he can lead the country to a major tournament win.”
Terry’s achievements for Chelsea eclipse Moore’s successes at club level, but West Ham’s favourite son etched his name into the history books by leading England to their only major trophy – the 1966 World Cup.
But Cascarino believes Terry, under Fabio Capello’s guidance, could elevate himself above the legendary No.6.
“International captains can only be judged on results so a trophy win would definitely put him right up there amongst the very best, such as Bobby Moore,” he said.
“In his club career John has already far surpassed the achievements of Bobby as a player and he will continue to win far more silverware.
“If he can do the same on the international stage then you’d have to put him above Moore not as a player but as a captain.”
‘Cas’ hailed Terry as “one of the most inspirational figures in the game today,” comparing his blood-and-guts style of play to marauding predecessor Bryan Robson.
“John is one of those players that knows how to defend instinctively and will have no hesitation in putting his body on the line for the cause much in the same way as Bryan Robson did in his time as England captain,” he added.
“He’s a very intelligent defender, you rarely see strikers out-run him and much like Steve Bruce at Manchester United he has the ability to score vital goals.
“He is an inspirational player, a natural leader, brave as a lion and is by far the best candidate to captain England. In my opinion, as a leader, there are very few players who can match him in modern day football.”
Tony Cascarino is a pundit for The New Football Pools. Play Footy15 with FFT here
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