Gareth Barry starts at the bitter end. Bloemfontein, June 27, 2010: England 1 Germany 4. ‘You wait so long to play in a World Cup and then you’re destroyed by your fiercest rivals,’ said Barry. ‘Walking off that pitch is the lowest part of my career. It took a long time to get over that.’

Anyone who thought Barry might never reappear at the very top level after Mesut Ozil sprinted away from him to set up Thomas Muller for Germany’s fourth is missing the point.

This is a man who left home aged 16 in pursuit of a football career, absorbing each pearl of advice from his coaches, working hard and patiently waiting until someone outside Birmingham noticed how he galvanised Aston Villa.

Up and running: Gareth Barry arrives in Manchester as the England squad assemble for the first time for new boss Roy Hodgson

At 31, Barry is a Barclays Premier League champion with Manchester City, has half a century of
England caps and heads to Euro 2012 instilled with a quiet determination to make up for what happened two years ago.

Still, he refuses to volunteer it as an excuse, but the truth is that he was never properly fit in South Africa and defied medical logic to recover from a serious ankle injury to even make the plane.

This week, Barry is fresh, tanned and relaxed. He bounds down the staircase, skipping the bottom two steps. He is wearing baggy shorts, designer T-shirt and a happy vibe.

Euphoria from City’s title win has been cleansed by a break in Spain and there has been time to spend with his family before reporting for England duty, although not time to reclaim his Premier League medal from his father.

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