'Chelsea's eternal captain' John Terry (45) recalled a nightmare from 17 years ago. He confessed that after missing his penalty kick in the European Football Association (UEFA) Champions League (UCL) final and costing his team the title, he came close to taking his own life.
Spain's Diario AS reported on the 16th (Korea time), "Terry's biggest regret at Chelsea. The great Premier League player achieved amazing feats at Chelsea, but he said one mistake still haunts him and wakes him in the middle of the night," it reported.
The 2007-08 UCL final is a moment Terry wants to forget. Chelsea met Premier League rival Manchester United in the final, and the 1-1 deadlock remained through extra time. The teams went to penalties, and Manchester United emerged the winner. Chelsea lost the shootout 5-6 and finished as runners-up.
Terry's missed kick was agonizing. Chelsea, thanks to goalkeeper Petr Čech saving Cristiano Ronaldo's shot, would have secured the title if fifth kicker Terry had scored. But Terry slipped at the moment of the kick, perhaps because of the rain, and the ball struck the right post. In the end, Nicolas Anelka's shot was saved by Edwin van der Sar and the trophy went to Manchester United.
More than 17 years have passed, but the memory remains painful for Terry. He appeared on the 'Lee Many Talk' podcast and said, "It still weighs on me. Over time it has faded a little. But when you are playing you can compartmentalize emotions to some extent and push them to the back for a while. Now I'm retired and I don't have the weekly matches to focus on. That thing still really eats me up," he confessed.
Terry added, "I still suddenly wake up in the middle of the night and think, 'Oh right, that happened.' I don't think it will ever go away," and recalled, "Looking back now, I wish I had talked to someone then. I remember everyone going back to the hotel after the match. I think I was around the 25th floor. I kept looking out the window and thinking, 'Why, why?'"
It was his teammates who saved Terry when he was falling apart. He said, "I'm not saying I would have jumped, but all kinds of thoughts really flashed through my head then. Then teammates came up and took me downstairs. At times like that you can't escape the 'what if...' thoughts. You really don't know how life will turn out," he added.
He especially expressed gratitude to Ray Wilkins. A former Chelsea player during his playing days, Wilkins was working as a Chelsea coach in 2008. Terry said Wilkins was a great help, explaining, "Wilkins was the first person to call after the match to check on me. After going through something like that, you quickly find out who your real friends are and who truly cares about you."
Of course, despite his teammates' help, the pain did not easily fade. Terry recalled that even when he joined the England national team a few days after the final, seeing Manchester United players caused him pain.
He said, "Three or four days after the final I went to the England team and Manchester United players were sitting across the table. That in itself was the worst. Then we played the United States at Wembley Stadium and I scored with a header. I thought, 'Could this goal have been exchanged for that penalty kick?,'" he said.
Fortunately, Terry experienced the joy of winning the UCL in 2012. Chelsea beat Bayern Munich on penalties to become European champions. Although Terry did not play in the final because he was sent off in the semifinal, he was able to lift the only 'big ear' (UCL winner's trophy) of his career and somewhat shake off the pain from four years earlier.
[Photo] ©Gettyimages (Unauthorized reproduction and redistribution prohibited), The Sun, Lee's Many YouTube.
[OSEN]