The fiftieth fifty

  • Wednesday, 01 April, 2009
  • John Terry and David James
  • John Terry interviewed
  • John Terry in action against Slovakia

England skipper John Terry hits a milestone for himself and the national side.

When John Terry skippered England to Saturday's 4-0 victory over Slovakia at Wembley, he became the 50th player in history to be capped 50 times for England.

The other 49 members of that select band include six players who won the World Cup for us in 1966 - Gordon Banks, Ray Wilson, Bobby Moore, Alan Ball, Bobby Charlton and Martin Peters. There are also England legends like Stanley Matthews, Jimmy Greaves, Kevin Keegan, Terry Butcher, Paul Gascoigne and Alan Shearer.

Wayne Rooney is in line to join that group tomorrow as England face Ukraine in a World Cup qualifier. He'll actually be the youngest to reach that milestone, beating a record set by Michael Owen in 2003. At 23 years 159 days, he'll be about three weeks younger than Owen was.

One other England player has appeared in his 50th international this season. Who is it? Emile Heskey, who clocked up No.50 in Belarus last October. David James, currently on 47, is coming up on the rails too.

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