Chelsea's Terry spells out Europa League desire
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
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Injury-doubt John Terry is eyeing more continental silverware 12 months after Chelsea FC conquered Europe, but to win it the Blues must beat an SL Benfica team "as good as anybody".
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Chelsea FC defender John Terry told UEFA.com what victory in Wednesday's UEFA Europa League final against SL Benfica would mean to him and the outgoing continental champions, though he faces a race to recover from an ankle injury.
The centre-back, suspended for the Blues' dramatic UEFA Champions League final triumph over FC Bayern München 12 months ago, has won 13 major honours with the west London club since making his debut in October 1998.
While Chelsea started the 2012/13 campaign with designs on becoming the first side since AC Milan in 1990 to retain the European Cup, Terry says he and his team-mates quickly warmed to the task after transferring into this competition in the spring.
"You realise once you are in it what it means to the other clubs and what it has meant to our fans and the group of players that are in the dressing room," said the 32-year-old captain. "We're delighted to be in the final and very much wanting to get our hands on it, and hopefully we can retain that and bring another piece of silverware back to Stamford Bridge."
Terry was in attendance last month when the UEFA Champions League trophy was presented to the city of London ahead of the Wembley final. Parting with that coveted prize has strengthened his desire for success at the Amsterdam ArenA. "It was very painful when we had to go and hand it back," he said.
"It was something that we worked very hard for, and to go and physically hand it back as a group of players was hard to do. But, at the same time, it definitely spurs you on even more and victory would definitely soften the blow."
Chelsea and Benfica met as recently as last season, when the English side won 3-1 on aggregate in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals. Terry, having featured in both legs, knows what sort of proposition Jorge Jesus's men will offer. "It's going to be a tough game, but we're prepared for that and I think the experience we have may just be a little edge over them, but in footballing terms they're as good as anybody."
To hear the full interview with Terry, click on the video player above.
