John Terry has vowed he will never shirk his responsibilities as England captain or opt out of the firing line.
Terry was fielding questions for the first time since allegations he aimed a racist remark at Anton Ferdinand during Chelsea's game against Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road last month.
The defender will lead out Fabio Capello's team against Sweden at Wembley but he was prevented by the FA from commenting directly on the accusations due to the police investigation.
Looking sharp: John Terry gets away from Theo Walcott in training on Monday
England manager Capello is planning more experiments with his team. Jack Rodwell, Kyle Walker and Bobby Zamora will all start their first games for their country.
One issue, however, has dominated the build-up. 'I wish I could have come last week and captained the side but the manager made his decision,' said Terry, who was left out of Saturday's moraleboosting 1-0 win over Spain.
'I would have faced that (the fall-out from the abuse case) if he'd picked me and I said that to the manager. I would have dealt with it my way, like I am now.
'I've never done things any differently and I won't do things differently in the future. I'm not someone to hide away.
'Unfortunately, with the police and the FA, I can't speak about that. But I'm here and I'm very proud to be England captain.'
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Rank | Team | W/D/L | Pts |
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Cities & Stadiums
The Top 3 Teams of Previous Tournaments
Year | Winners | Runner-up | Third place |
---|---|---|---|
2008 | Spain | Germany | Russia / Turkey |
2004 | Greece | Portugal | Netherlands / Czech Republic |
2000 | France | Italy | Netherlands / Portugal |
1996 | Germany | Czech Republic | France / England |
1992 | Denmark | Germany | Netherlands / Sweden |
1988 | Netherlands | Soviet Union | Italy / West Germany |
1984 | France | Spain | Denmark / Portugal |
1980 | West Germany | Belgium | Czechoslovakia |
1976 | Czechoslovakia | West Germany | Netherlands |
1972 | West Germany | Soviet Union | Belgium |
1968 | Italy | Yugoslavia | England |
1964 | Spain | Soviet Union | Hungary |
1960 | Soviet Union | Yugoslavia | Czechoslovakia |