John Terry’s ‘late change to agreed 2008 Champions League final penalty order’ is exposed by Chelsea team-mate, who says captain ‘tried to be a hero’ and names whose place he took
A former Chelsea star has revealed how John Terry changed the penalty order in their Champions League final defeat back in 2008.
The ex-Blues captain took what could have been the decisive penalty at the end of a 1-1 draw in the first ever final between two English clubs, but slipped on the run-up and hit the post to send the shoot-out into sudden death.
Nicolas Anelka went on to miss Chelsea’s seventh spot-kick to hand Man United a domestic and European double, but Terry’s miss is still seen as the decisive and iconic moment at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium.
Now, Terry’s former team-mate Claude Makelele has revealed that Terry was not initially meant to take the spot-kick but changed the order to try and be the ‘hero’.
Speaking on The LineUp, brought to you by BetMGM and talkSPORT, he said: ‘The dressing room after the game was like fire. There was no happiness whatsoever – it was a sad place to be.
‘We made a big mistake ahead of the penalties. We had an order which was agreed with the players and the manager, but it changed at the last minute.
A former Chelsea star claimed that John Terry tried to be the ‘hero’ in the 2008 final defeat
The Blues captain infamously slipped when taking his crucial spot-kick in Moscow, Russia
Former Chelsea star Claude Makelele revealed that Terry changed the penalty shootout order
‘It was supposed to be Salomon Kalou taking the last penalty but John [Terry] took the opportunity off him. I think we lost this competition because football is very harsh sometimes and, if you don’t do things the right way, you get punished.
‘I was very angry when he missed the penalty because it was a chance that I knew a lot of the young players wouldn’t get. I’d won the Champions League before but, in this moment, John had to be the leader and do what was best for the team.
‘He didn’t make sure we won the trophy, he tried to be a hero. If he knew this, he would have been a hero because he would have lifted the trophy.’
Last year, Terry revealed on the Up Front Podcast that it was ‘probably the worst moment in my footballing career’.
He added: ‘I’m still not over it today. I don’t think I ever will be. It’s interesting because as a player you have so many highs, but it’s the lows that stay with you longer.
‘That night we lost we went back to the hotel and the manager was asking us all to go down for a drink, but I stayed in my room because I couldn’t face the lads. Eventually I went down and had a beer with the rest of the group.
‘I just remember standing in my hotel room on the 25th floor, looking over Moscow and asking myself, ‘why then, why did it start raining then, why did I slip?
Terry once revealed it was ‘probably the worst moment in my footballing career’
Terry’s miss helped Man United secure a 6-5 shootout victory in the Champions League final
‘The hardest thing for me was that three days later we had a friendly for England against USA at Wembley and we drew 1-1 I scored a header from outside of the box. If I could swap any two goals in my career it’d be those two.’
He also previously told Sky in the months after the miss: ‘Every morning I wake up, that’s the first thing I think about. I am still so desperately disappointed about it.
‘But I am a big man with a big character and it is now down to me to deal with that.’
Speaking ahead of the 2008-09 season, he added: ‘I’m certainly looking forward to the new season so I can wipe away that bitter disappointment for the club, and especially for me.’
