Roy Hodgson rules out John Terry return

England manager says team coped without defender during World Cup qualification and will do so at the finals

Former England captain John Terry has no plans to come out of international retirement. Photograph: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire.
Former England captain John Terry has no plans to come out of international retirement. Photograph: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire.

England manager Roy Hodgson has ruled out the possibility of John Terry coming out of international retirement for the World Cup.

There have been some calls for Terry to return to the England fold, given his return to form with Chelsea this season under Jose Mourinho.

However, Hodgson says there is no question of him asking the former captain to play for the Three Lions in Brazil.

“John has retired and as far as I am concerned that is the situation,” Hodgson said today. “We have got along without him for the whole of the qualification and quite a few friendly matches as well so we will have to get along without him in the future.”

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Terry has enjoyed a renaissance since Mourinho came back to Stamford Bridge for a second spell as manager. The 33-year-old centre-back's partnership with Gary Cahill has been particularly pleasing for the Chelsea boss and the club's fans, who have watched the Londoners climb to the top of the Barclays Premier League recently.

England's second highest goal scorer Gary Lineker led the calls for Terry's reintegration on Twitter last week when he posted: "Must be hugely tempting for Roy Hodgson to pick up the phone to John Terry. Solid regular partnership with (Gary) Cahill. Best option by far."

But to be clear on the matter, Hodgson reiterated his stance on Terry when quizzed about the 78-cap defender for a second time.

“As far as I am concerned retirement is retirement,” Hodgson said. “You respect that when players retire, we move on. “We moved on after our first qualification game when John Terry limped off and since that time we have chosen the players who are available, who have represented us well in my opinion, so we will continue with that.”