No one knows the meaning of this phrase more than the most hard-working defender England has seen in recent times, the inimitable Ashley Cole. The one time Arsenal 'Invincible' and currently a Stamford Bridge regular; he fully deserves his 100th cap for the England national side.
Football fans in England who have watched the thin boy from Stepney, London from his formative years as a Gunners’ youth to the present day know that he is one defender whom everyone in his team can bank on. It comes as no surprise then that Ashley Cole gets his century cap from Roy Hodgson.
The only professional off-field football blemish on his stellar career up to now would probably be the drama that surrounded his transfer from the Gunners to the Blues in 2006. The English tabloids made a killing out of his personal relationships, but like a true-Blue professional, Cole demonstrated that his on-field performance is what matters the most to him, his team and his fans.
Cole has been one of those rare combinations of being, both an attacking player as well as a rock-solid defender, a role which he reportedly modelled on the lines of the Brazilian, Roberto Carlos. English spectators have enjoyed watching Ashley Cole both at the junior and senior levels in the England national side. Having made his senior debut under Sven-Goran Eriksson in 2001, the left- back has gone on to play every Euro and World Cup championships since then.
The two-time Chelsea FC’s Players’ Player of the Year is one tough cookie under that thin frame and for all his achievements, for all his hard-work, for his dedicated professionalism and for his being the most-capped full back in English history, he deserves nothing less than a standing ovation from English football fans.
Source: DSG
