Terry wasn't in top six - Ten Cate
by Ben Blackmore, 22 May 2008
Chelsea assistant boss Henk Ten Cate revealed John Terry was not even in The Blues’ top six penalty takers before his crucial miss gave Manchester United a Champions League lifeline in Moscow.
Terry stepped up to take Chelsea’s fifth penalty, potentially the winning penalty after Cristiano Ronaldo’s effort had been saved by Petr Cech.
However, the Chelsea skipper lost his standing foot at the crucial moment, sending his spot-kick crashing off a post.
Ten Cate revealed afterwards that Didier Drogba would have completed Chelsea’s five penalty takers if he had not been red carded, but the Dutch coach also hinted that other players shirked responsibility as Terry stepped up.
“John was not in the first five but when it comes to take them, somebody might say 'I don't feel well, I prefer somebody else take it',” said Ten Cate.
“John was not in the first five to take a kick but things change during a game.
“Some people feel sick and the sending off of Drogba made us change it.
“It’s unbelievable this should happen to him though. We practiced penalties so much all last week and he was very confident. We were all confident.”