Ancelotti lauds 'great man' Terry

19 July 2009 07:34
Carlo Ancelotti hailed captain John Terry as the "symbol" of his team after seeing his new club Chelsea win their first outing under his command in a 2-0 victory over the Seattle Sounders. Chelsea started their tour of the United States with a competitive friendly over Major League football's newest team in front of 65,289 fans at Qwest Field and ahead of next week's pre-season tournament against AC Milan, Inter Milan and Club America. Continuing the London club's bid to persuade Terry to reject City's advances and stay at Stamford Bridge, Ancelotti said: "John Terry is a great man, a quiet man and he is a symbol of this team. There is no pressure on him to play. He is a very, very good man." England captain Terry, the subject of intense transfer speculation following a bid from Manchester City, retained the skipper's armband as Ancelotti sent out his first side since taking over from Guus Hiddink at the end of last season. First-half goals from teenage debutant Daniel Sturridge and Frank Lampard were enough to see off a Seattle side led by Freddie Ljungberg in their inaugural MLS season. Having used 21 of the 27 players that made the trip across the Atlantic, the former AC Milan coach declared himself satisfied with his squad's efforts in their opening pre-season fixture. "I learned that on one hand we have a very good team that works very well," Ancelotti said. "Sometimes we can make a mistake but not all the time. The players were concentrated. "I like this because normally in the first game we can't make a mistake, it is important to work hard and want to improve. We want to improve and we will improve for the next game. For the first game I am happy." Goalscorer Lampard praised the level of opposition provided by Seattle, who caused the Chelsea defence numerous problems throughout the game. "The game was pretty even really, except for the two goals we scored, which might be the slight difference in quality from the Premier League to here," Lampard said. "Seattle tried to play good football and created some good chances. They were unlucky not to score."

Source: Eurosport