Sydney FC players are unlikely to come up against a more tenacious, long-serving and decorated player than John Terry – and the Chelsea captain has no plans to call it quits any time soon.
The seemingly indefatigable centre back revealed ahead of Tuesday night’s sell-out match against Sydney FC that he hopes to finish his career as a one-club man at Chelsea – but not for a few more seasons.
“At my age you kind of get written off, so it’s nice on a personal note to play so many games,” said the 34-year-old defender, whose appearance on the team sheets was a virtual given all season as Chelsea cantered to a fourth English Premier League title last week.
Terry paid tribute to manager Jose Mourinho and his staff for keeping him fresh with occasional days off, which he said helped him to keep his form, retain his place in the side and stay fit.
“I’m hoping that’s going to continue for a few more years at least,” said the former England captain.
Terry is Chelsea’s most successful captain, having led the Blues to four EPL titles since 2004 as well as four FA Cups, three League Cups and a European Champions League title.
He is one of only five players to have made more than 500 appearances for Chelsea, a number that looks set to keep growing.
Terry is expecting a solid test against Sydney FC.
“We do see bits of Australian football on television. You have very passionate fans, just like in England, good stadiums and a good atmosphere,” he said.
“We know the standard (in Australia) is very good.”
Chelsea plan to field a full-strength team, and have world class players to call on including Brazilian Oscar, Belgium’s EPL player of the year Eden Hazard, Spaniards Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas and Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
They won’t find the atmosphere lacking at Sydney’s ANZ Stadium, which expects a sell-out crowd of over 83,000.
Both teams will train at the stadium on Monday.
Sydney FC hopes to hold their own against the big boys as they did manfully in their 1-0 loss on Saturday to Tottenham in front of more than 71,500 fans.
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