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I'll never quit England - Terry

November 15, 2011
John Terry led England to a narrow 1-0 win at Wembley © Getty Images
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John Terry insists he never considered stepping down as England captain after leading them in the 1-0 friendly victory at home to Sweden.

Terry, pleased by the night's work, insisted he never thought about relinquishing the armband as he finds himself accused of racially abusing Anton Ferdinand at Loftus Road last month - allegations he strenuously denies.

''No chance,'' he told ITV1. ''I would never step down. It (being England captain) is something I dreamed of as a boy. 'When I was four or five years old I used to watch England games and it's something I dreamed of being. I worked very hard to get here. I'm very passionate, very confident being England captain and very proud to be, also. 'It's a great achievement, walking the side out, and I'm very proud to do that.''

Terry said of the Wembley crowd: ''I said yesterday the England fans have always been great with me and the players, they are always behind us win, lose or draw. They get upset at times - like we all do - we're very passionate and that's what makes us the very best.

''We've got a great set of fans, and some great performances at the moment, so if we can keep that momentum for the next six months then hopefully things will be a lot better.''

England boss Fabio Capello was pleased with his side's performances against Spain and then Sweden without Wayne Rooney, who is suspended for the three Euro 2012 group games, subject to an appeal.

''I learned a lot,'' Capello said on ITV1. ''It was important to see some players against two difficult teams. I'm happy with the experiments, the results were positive. For the future, these players will be okay.

''Without Rooney we changed the style, played three midfielders in a 4-3-3. I'm happy because we won the two games and this evening we created a lot of chances. 'I know Rooney is a really fantastic, important player, but the team spirit is important. I saw in these two games really good spirit.''

Capello added: ''We created a lot of chances to score. Some of the players played really well - Phil Jones, Jack Rodwell - and I think it was a really testing game, because after 43 years we finally beat Sweden. 'I'm happy but I think we need to improve from it because when you've got the ball possession you need to move it a lot quicker.''

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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