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Jeff Powell on Friday: Roy Hodgson must be wary of John Terry and Andy Carroll

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John Terry has let it be known that he would like to play for England again. Andy Carroll would also relish the chance of going to the World Cup in Brazil next summer.

Campaigns for the inclusion of both are growing.

Roy Hodgson needs to be wary on both counts, albeit for very different reasons.

Plenty to ponder: England manager Roy Hodgson must decide whether it is worth recalling John Terry (below right, with Rio Ferdinand) and Andy Carroll (bottom)

This usually sensible manager got himself in a pickle when he sided with Terry over Rio Ferdinand during the Chelsea man's race row with Anton Ferdinand. Rio, of course, is now back to world-class form.

If Hodgson makes the same mistake again he invites all manner of trouble into the England dressing room. Not least because Terry quit international football as a consequence of that scandal and would be regarded as a glory-hunter with World Cup glamour in the offing.

Not only that but Terry, largely as a consequence of injuries, is in decline, with his future at Chelsea uncertain. Never the fastest mover at centre half, he is increasingly caught out for pace now.

Getting caught out: Terry's lack of pace is being increasingly exposed

As for Carroll, there is a romantic notion that he is a throw-back to the traditional battering ram English centre forward.

But that is the problem. Although he has better playing technique than many give him credit for, Carroll is an intimidating physical presence who uses his height and weight to powerful effect.

However, the kind of reckless clattering he gave Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea at West Ham the other night would not have gone unpunished in a World Cup game.

Battering ram: Carroll (centre) clatters Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea (in yellow)

That and several of his other shuddering challenges would be likely to get him sent off by FIFA referees.

That risk and the baggage Terry brings with him need to be weighed very carefully indeed by Hodgson.

 

The same question keeps being asked of Sir Alex Ferguson. When is he going to retire?The answer is rhetorical. Why should he?  

Having won his 13th - and Manchester United’s 20th - English league title with a team in transition, why walk away from the prospect of winning his 14th as his latest creation matures and improves?

Why not believe him when he says that he will keep going as long he is healthy?

And who on earth is going to replace the best manager in the world?

 

The PFA baulked at disqualifying Luis Suarez from their annual awards ballot for biting another of their members.

So to what should be their embarrassment he was voted into their team of the year.

If there has been so much as a peep out of the Premier League about the animal conduct of Suarez, I haven’t heard it.

Animal conduct: Luis Suarez (right) just after biting a shocked Branislav Ivanovic

Yet it is the FA, who took a moral and principled stand with their 10-match ban, who find themselves taking stick.

They don’t always get it right but the FA would be within their rights to ask that each case be judged on its merits.

 

The reopening of the fabled Maracana stadium in Rio, where next year’s World Cup Final will be played, evokes much nostalgia.

In the first match I saw there, more years ago than I care to remember, I marvelled at the magic of Pele and Garrincha.

I was also startled by the extraordinary noise made by well over 100,000 fans simultaneously clicking their fingers as midfield maestro Gerson went into one of his ferocious, trademark tackles.

Present and past: The renovated Maracana Stadium hosted a test event last weekend but it will have to go some to recreate the glories of the old, fabled stadium (below)

I asked my neighbour in the press box to explain and was told that they were simulating the sound of a Gerson opponent having his leg broken.

Later, in 1984 on England’s tour of Latin America, came the wonder goal by John Barnes which helped give Bobby Robson’s team the rare honour of victory over Brazil in Rio. That slalom-like run is burned in the memory.

But remember Gerson, also, whenever anyone tries to peddle the fallacy that football in the home-land of the beautiful game is not as hard as our Premier League.

Finger clicking good: The sound Brazilian fans used to make when Gerson was on the pitch mimicked his bone-crunching challenges

Great memories: Jeff watched Garrincha (left) and Pele on his first visit to the Maracana

Mesmerising the Maracana: John Barnes (left) sets off on the run which led to his famous goal against Brazil and delighted Bobby Robson (below)

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