It also means Rooney misses the first game of the finals, and it could be more if UEFA's disciplinary committee feel his challenge merits extra punishment.

But captain Terry said: 'I hope Wayne doesn't get too much stick. What happened was unfortunate but it was one of those things. It means that he misses one or two games when we get there but it's important to realise that, without him, we wouldn't be in this position.

'He's been absolutely magnificent for England and I hope people don't criticise him too much. The important thing is we got the right result and we're through.'

Terry also painted an optimistic picture of England's prospects of landing their first major trophy since the World Cup in 1966, especially after learning lessons from their shoddy performances in last year's World Cup when Fabio Capello admitted he had wrongly prepared for the finals.

'I hope we will be better prepared for this than the World Cup last year,' he said.

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