TERRY COULD TAKE ONE

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England manager Roy Hodgson has confirmed that Chelsea defender John Terry could be one of the 5 penalty takers if the Euro 2012 quarter-final match against Italy goes into penalties. England have qualified for the quarter-finals of the competition as the winners of the group D. As a result, they will be facing runners up from the group C – Italy. Due to the fact that Italy are well known for their defensive abilities, there is a very good chance that the game might go into penalties. England manager Roy Hodgson has already revealed that the team are practising penalties just in case the match goes into extra time and penalties.

Chelsea captain and defender John Terry has some of the worst experiences in a penalty shootout after he missed the crucial kick in the 2008 Champions League final against Manchester United in Moscow. Even though John Terry has been redeemed from the mistake this season after Chelsea won their first ever Champions League title, it is thought that John Terry would be extremely fearful of taking a penalty in the match against Italy. Hodgson has denied such rumours by saying that Terry will step up if he is called to do so.

“John will step up to the plate. He has confidence in his own ability. He will take one if needed. We have practised already, we have used the time after training sessions to practice. We’ll obviously take it even more seriously now. But you well know, you can practise penalty shoot-outs until the cows come home, it’s really your composure, your confidence, your ability to block everything out and forget the occasion that means you score or you don’t score,” said a very confident looking Roy Hodgson ahead of the Italy match that will take place on Monday.

DROGBA SHOULD STAY

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Chelsea chief executive Ron Gourlay has said that both fans and the club want striker Didier Drogba to stay at the club next season. The 34-year-old is out of contract at the end of the season with rumours persist in that the striker is demanding a two year contract, while Chelsea are offering him only a one-year deal. In recent weeks, Didier Drogba has said that he is the man for the big games after scoring against the likes of Barcelona and Liverpool in crucial encounters. However, it is thought that Chelsea are looking towards the future by building their team around Fernando Torres rather than the 34-year-old Didier Drogba.

However, Gourlay recently said that Chelsea will still not to leave the possibility of retaining Drogba at the end of this season. Hence, they will be holding talks with the big Ivorian after the end of the season. Didier Drogba could still end of the season on a high with Chelsea by helping them lift the Champions League title when they face Bayern Munich on May 19. Drogba has sent off in the 2008 Champions League final after slapping Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic in the face. However, he is expected to start the match against Bayern Munich at the Allianz arena.

“We continue to discuss with Didier the situation. Didier loves this football club, we love Didier, and we’ll continue to have the conversations. Didier and the rest of the team are completely focused on what we’ve got to achieve in the next week and, once that’s finished, we’ll sit down,” Gourlay told Sky Sports regarding the contract situation of Didier Drogba. Former Chelsea striker Anelka said that Drogba has already made the decision on his future, but is not willing to go public on his decision just yet.