Champion: Barry won the Barclays Premier League title with Manchester City after a thrilling final-day victory over QPR

The contrast is telling. When Fabio Capello named his World Cup squad, City had just missed qualifying for the Champions League, Barry’s ankle was in a cast and his days were planned around sessions in the oxygen tent.

This year, he is energised by Euro 2012 and the prospect of meeting Roy Hodgson, his seventh England manager.

Kevin Keegan was the first. Caretakers Howard Wilkinson and Peter Taylor picked him, as did Sven
Goran Eriksson (although only twice). A significant breakthrough came under Steve McClaren and then came Capello.

It is perhaps no coincidence that two Italian managers, educated in a culture where the deepest midfielder sets the tempo and makes the play, had greatest faith in Barry.

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