McClaren hails 'inspirational' Terry

17 augustus 2006, 09:20

Koen Freriks

Steve McClaren praised John Terry's inspirational leadership skills after he opened the scoring on his first game as England captain.

Terry, 25, put England on the road to 4-0 win in their friendly against European champions Greece, scoring his second international goal with a header in the 14th minute. Frank Lampard added the second and Peter Crouch scored two more before half-time.

McClaren, for whom the game was also his first in charge, said: "It was a dream start. It's been a difficult time for John since he was made captain, with the hype and the high profile but he's handled it as I expected. He gave a performance that was an inspiration for the rest of the players."