Before every major tournament the Three Lions are involved in, there's always a saga of some sort that overshadows the preparations. Euro 2012 is no different, with Roy Hodgson facing a backlash for not selecting veteran defender Rio Ferdianand. Firstly in his squad of 23 and then, when injuries to Frank Lampard and Gary Cahill ruled them out of the Championships, he overlooked Rio again for Phil Jagielka and a defender with just a single international cap to his name; Liverpool's Martin Kelly.
After announcing his squad, Hodgson claimed he left Ferdinand out for "footballing reasons." Come on, Roy! So you're saying that you left out Rio Ferdinand, a defender who's accumulated transfer fees of £47.1m over his career, won five Premier League titles, an FA Cup, two League Cups and the UEFA Champions League. Oh, not forgetting the five times he's been named in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year.
There's surely only one reason why Ferdinand has been overlooked; John Terry. The 31 year-old is accused of racially abusing Rio's brother, Anton, during QPR's 1-0 win over Chelsea on 23 October. Terry will stand trial over the allegations after the European Championships.
Hodgson clearly felt he couldn't have both Ferdinand and Terry in the squad, and who can blame him? I don't think I could play with someone accused of racially abusing my brother, but it's not Rio's fault is it? It appears that he's the one who's lost out through no fault of his own.
Whether Terry is innocent or not, in my opinion The FA should have suspended him from the national team until after the trial. That way it doesn't give Roy this lose-lose situation. If he had named both Terry and Rio it would have created divisions in the squad which is more than likely to affect results. If he leaves Rio out like he has, he faces a revolt from the fans for not picking what Rafael Van der Vaart claims as "one of the best defenders in England and maybe in the world." Nicely done, FA.
