MISERY ... Lampard, Ferdinand, Terry, Cole, Hargreaves and Cole crash out of the 2006 World Cup

“He is leading by example, has had three assists and taken on all the responsibility really well. He wants to be the one the team relies on.

“The game against Italy won’t hold any fears for him. In fact, nobody should be afraid of them.

“We are good enough to beat Italy and should go into it with confidence.

“But we have to beware of Andrea Pirlo spraying those passes about. If he gets that chance, he can be very dangerous. And you never know just what you’re going to get with Mario Balotelli.

“There are times when he doesn’t seem to be in the game at all.

“Then he just explodes and does something extraordinary.”

Looking at the tournament as a whole, Ferdinand was delighted to see his old pal Cristiano Ronaldo heading Portugal into the semis as they beat the Czech Republic 1-0 on Thursday.

Ronaldo got some stick during the group games but was back to his lethal best to dump the Czechs. Ferdinand admitted: “I was so pleased for Ronny. He deserves his success and I thought he had a fabulous game.

“This could really be his stage. He looks right on top of his game.

“I reckon it could be the year when he gets voted the world’s best player and Lionel Messi has to accept second.

“Ronny has already won the Spanish League with Real Madrid and, if he added the Euros too, that would surely clinch it for him.

“Obviously, I want England to come back with the trophy.

“But if they don’t, I’d be very happy to see Ronny lifting that cup.”

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