this is from the italian forum i found it to be one of the best reads ever and this shows the true qualities of a captain. also to further bury the idiot that siad italy was lucky and cannavaro was obsolete. That Night, The Azzurri United Buffon: “What prompted us to come together? Our captain’s presence. His words and actions, that was everything. Without it, we wouldn't have had this unity.” “It was the second night of camp. All of the players were having dinner when I received a summons from the Parma Prosecutor’s Office telling me to make an appearance the following day. Sensing the (change in the) atmosphere, every face in the room hardened. I felt a strong responsibility for dampening the mood like that, while feeling this nameless anger build within me. But I was desperately trying to endure it. Having finished eating, we began heading back to our rooms. That’s when Fabio asked everyone to wait, gathering all of us around a table. He then said, ‘Whether or not Gigi has committed a crime, I don’t know the truth. But I do believe him to be a man who would admit to his wrongdoing if he’s guilty. That’s who Gigi is. And Gigi is saying he’s innocent. (That’s enough for me to) shred any kind of doubt. I believe him from the bottom of my heart.’” “He then invited everyone (to speak up). ‘I have a favour to ask. If there’s anything that’s bothering you, I want you to share it with us now. Our coach knows about my talking to you tonight. We also agreed to get everything out in the open and not discuss it in any form after this point. Please raise your hand if you have any doubts towards Gigi or any of us from Juve in connection with the scandal. If there’s anything you want to say, please say it now. A team can’t bond if we’re hiding something. And to win the World Cup, we need (to form) a strong solidarity. If you want to win the World Cup, please voice all your thoughts.’” - And how did your team-mates respond? “They all expressed their trust for me in their own ways. Francesco in his characteristic Roman accent, Cristian by looking into my eyes and nodding quietly. They all showed me that our thoughts were one. Without that night, our match against Ghana may have had a different outcome. I wouldn’t know for sure, but prior to that incident, Italy was in a state of confusion, enough to make that thought possible. At least, my mind was undoubtedly in a mess. It’s thanks to Fabio and my team-mates that I can now concentrate on winning each game.” source(s): buffon interview by alan tonetti, Number, wc special issue 2
Congrats to the new skipper.. Hopefully, J.T. can involke some fiery passion and leadership that England needs.. A new attitude you might say....
No, and I guess that's a fair statement. He doesn't bleed White in the way he bleeds Red, and probably doesn't care about England 1/10th of how much he cares about 'Pool. On a related note, I noticed Gerrard not singing the anthem during the WC and staring blankly at the ground. I don't know if it's cause he's Oirish, anti-monarchist or whatever, but he wasn't the only one. Rooney did the same thing and so did Carragher. Does anyone recall if Terry was one of the few players singing?
You're kidding right? Doesn't care as much about England as he does for Liverpool? That's just a crazy statement.. I am sure you can still be passionate for your Country and not sing your Anthem...
lol, well he is a good player, but i dont know about leader. Still awhile atleast till 2014 till they can take one home.
Well the song is about a Queen, and not the country as whole. He had every right to not sing along to that anti-patriotic song.
I would think you want your national team captain to be there at every game. Owens, while brilliant in the past at times, is a walking injury. Sorry, not captain material.
Huh, Gerrard sung the anthem during the World Cup from what I remember. He just opens his mouth a little bit for it though, but he sang if I remember properly.
Who gives a fuck either way. It's only an irritating ditty they're forced to sing at the start of England games. I doubt more than half of them even know the words. I don't know the words and I can read and everything.
My concern is that instead of building the side around the best midfielder England has (Gerrard) by making him captain, McClaren has taken the 'safe' option and picked a steady but unspectacular defender who has never transferred his club form to country. We'll need to wait and see obviously, but it doesn't sound like the McClaren regime is going to be anything to write home about. I wonder what mess he'll make of the midfield? He had a chance to solve the central midfield problem once and for all by naming Gerrard captain. He bottled it and went for the easy option. I feel sorry for whatever shite the English fans are going to be served with over the next x years.
a scot feelin sorry for our national team set up is like an aids victim feeling sorry for someone with the flu
who cares about national history, the queen and all that shite play for the people in the country, not for the land raping colonial history which involved messing up countries in practically every continant id rather play for football heros of the past than the queen and nationality
Yeah but then again you felt sorry for us Germans when Klinsmann replaced Kahn with Lehmann. That didn't work out so badly did it. Wait and see, I think. Seems rather early to start panicking already.
It did against Costa Rica! Idiot came out and left himself stranded, allowing the striker to roll two past him. It's clear that with Kahn you would have won the WC.
Fair enough, Kahn would have bitten Grosso's ear off and headbutted Cannavaro, and Italy wouldn't have stood a chance against us. Seriously though, Jens didn't cost us anything and made quite a few great saves. Back on topic, I would have chosen Gerrard myself, but I can understand the choice of Terry as there may be situations where you might want to play with Lampard and leave Gerrard out.
And why does he need to make Gerrard captain in order to build the side around him? Terry and Gerrard would both have made excellent, but different captains. Terry is the more vocal, Gerrard the more dynamic. As has already been pointed out - you shouldn't need the armband to express your personality on the side if you are one of your countries leading players.
your hatred for arsenal is hillarious khan isnt better than lehman is now, he wouldnt have saved the 2 italy goals in the final if lehman was a man utd player u would love him