Terry looks to Big Phil to ease pain

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13 April 2012

John Terry is banking on Luiz Felipe Scolari to end his nightmare over his penalty miss that cost Chelsea the Champions League. The skipper admitted today he is still haunted by the memory of the shoot-out against Manchester United two months ago but hopes the new boss can ease the pain by leading the club to success.

The sight of Terry in tears moments after his penalty slammed against the post was one of the images of the season. Too devastated to speak to the national media in the aftermath of the Moscow final, he issued a statement to the fans on the club's website apologising for his miss before joining England for a friendly against the USA.

While it helped provide a temporary distraction and he showed his character by scoring in a 2-0 win, the wound is still fresh despite the summer break.

Not that it is easy for him to escape the images of his bad luck and one hopes he wasn't flicking through the Chinese television channels in his hotel room after training in Guangzhou last night.

For in a segment on Chelsea to herald their visit to the country, a show called Soccer Weekly broadcast Terry's failed spot-kick in all its misery.

However, he sees in Scolari, who replaced Avram Grant as manager in the summer, the chance for a quick redemption. Terry is starting to feel rejuvenated after just two weeks of pre-season training under the Brazilian and is confident the next campaign will give him the chance to erase his bad memories once and for all.

He explained: "Every morning I wake up and the penalty miss is the first thing on my mind. I still think of it.

"I'm still very disappointed by it, but last season I said I'm a big man and have a big character and it's down to me to deal with it.

"Having the England game straight afterwards helped flush it away a tiny bit, but hopefully we will be successful with the new manager this season and flush away all those bad memories.

"I have been looking forward to the preseason tour after the obvious disappointments for the club last season and for me especially. The team are determined to win the Premier League and as many trophies as possible.

"When you see the hunger of the new management and the team he has brought in, it's on their minds to do exactly the same."

The arrival of new signings Jose Bosingwa and Deco into the squad has helped provide Terry with another distraction, as well as more encouragement that Chelsea can go one step further and win Europe's premier club competition for the first time.

He added: "We have great new players at the club and it is my job to make them feel welcome. We are a very big club and it is very exciting because we have very good players here already.

"We are away for two weeks on tour and can get to know each other."

Scolari is already hoping that the club's visit to south east Asia is a good omen, having come to the region as part of Brazil's preparations before their triumph in the 2002 World Cup.

Brazil's final warm-up match before the tournament in Japan and South Korea was a 4-0 victory over Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur, where Chelsea will play a friendly against a select XI next week.

The 59-year-old is looking for history to repeat itself and said: "When Chelsea gave me the schedule for the tour, I remembered what happened the last time I was here.

"It was before the World Cup and I was coach of Brazil. We went to Kuala Lumpur and we trained for seven days there. We went on to be champions in Japan and maybe the same thing will happen again for me at Chelsea.

"It's important for us to train and play some games now.

"Our players are in good condition at the moment, but they are not as good as we want for the start of the league - that is normal at this stage.

"Chelsea have changed things with me. I have started a new job and it is a new philosophy and different training."

The club play their first game under Scolari's guidance against Guangzhou Pharmaceutical tomorrow night local time and he can't wait to see his new team in action.

He added: "This is my first game at Chelsea and it is a process for me to get to know the players and for them to get to know me.

"What I want on the field? It is what I have said before. We have very good players and maybe they will surprise me after tomorrow. Maybe they will play better than I expect.

"Guangzhou are in good condition and will be a tough team, but it is important for Chelsea to win every game whether it is a friendly or not."

Terry looks to Big Phil to ease pain

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