England’s manager Fabio Capello has an difficult task to decide – whether to retain John Terry as captain of England soccer team or not. He said earlier that he will decide based on football reasons. There is no doubt that John Terry is a talented player and had been a good captain. But with the news of his alleged affair with Vanessa Perroncel now made public, can John Terry hang on to that captain’s armband for long?
Fabio Capello must be feeling a sense of déjà vu. Indeed a similar case happened 12 years ago to the US soccer team 2 months before the 1998 World Cup.
At that time coach Steve Sampson became aware that the captain of the US soccer team, John Harkes, was having an affair with Amy Wynalda, wife of teammate Eric Wynalda.
But unlike John Terry’s affair with Vanessa Perroncel, girlfriend of England and Chelsea’s colleague whose affair is now public knowledge, the affair between John Harkes and Amy Wynalda was kept confidential for a whole 12 years until now. It was disclosed by Eric Wynalda during a “Fox Football Fone-In” program recently.
The next day after Eric Wynalda’s disclosure, Steve Sampson disclosed that he, as manager, decided to drop his captain, John Harkes from the US national soccer team. That was on April 14, 1998 barely 2 months before the World Cup Final. At that time, that decision surprised many people. Afterall, John Harkes appeared most qualified to be captain of the US soccer team. He was a member of the 1990 and 1994 US World Cup teams.
Why did Steve Sampson keep quiet about this affair? He said: ”I felt that these are the kinds of issues that need to stay in the locker room and within the team and not be exposed to the public. The private issues for me were the most serious issues. I think I could have lived with everything else and kept John on the team if it had not been for the private issues. It’s one thing to have an affair outside the team. It’s another to have one inside. There are just certain lines that one cannot cross.”
So while Fabio Capello is pondering whether to keep or leave out captain John Terry on football reasons, Steve Sampson had a different view. He said: ”Maybe now people will have a little bit more of an understanding as to why I made such a critical decision back in 1998. The last thing I wanted to do was drop John Harkes from the team because I really did believe that he was an outstanding leader on the field.”
What were the consequences of dropping John Harkes? Well the US team finished last in the 1998 World Cup competition and Steve Sampson was severely criticized and fired from his post because of this.
Can the same thing happen to the England team if John Terry is fired? Eric Wynalda said: ”There’s a lot of similarities between what happened to us in 1998 and what’s happening now to England. It’s an unfortunate time for England, because I know how that can affect a team firsthand. Obviously, we all know how we did in the World Cup in 1998.”
What about John Harkes? He said the other day: “I am not going to rehash the things that have happened in the past. 1998 was devastating to me and my family. It was hard enough not to play in the World Cup, but it was even difficult to go through that time period, the most difficult time period of my life.”
And what about Eric Wynalda? He said: “I’m calling it an inappropriate relationship. It was a major contributor to why I’m no longer married. I’ve suffered quite a bit through this whole process. My healing is over, so I’m OK to talk about it.” Eric Wynalda divorced his wife and is now writing a book on this.
And what happened to John Harkes and Steve Sampson? It seems that they mended their relationship in 2005 with a handshake.
So there you have it. Fabio Capello, England’s coach, has to decide what to do with his captain, John Terry soon. Can he draw any guidance from a surprisingly similar case that happened to the US soccer team in 1998? What will Fabio Capello’s decision be? Can John Terry hang on to his captain’s armband for long?
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