Fabio Capello Meets John Terry: England's World Cup Hangs in the Balance

Fabio Capello finally comes face-to-face with John Terry today, for the first time since the world came crashing down around the Chelsea and England captain six days ago.

The meeting between the pair has the potential to make or break England’s World Cup preparation and campaign, and whatever Capello decides will have huge ramifications.

If the Italian decides that Terry’s misdemeanours are a step too far for a player who has never been too far from controversy and strips him of the captaincy, they’re will still be a backlash even though this decision would probably be the more popular amongst England fans.

Firstly, if the situation is indeed bad enough to strip the Chelsea man of the armband, then logically Capello can’t put him on the plane to South Africa. English fans over blow the captaincy massively, in effect all it is is an ambassadorial role, and usually means you go first for everything; i.e. leading the team out etc.

The problem is we relate it too much to the England cricket skipper, who not only has an input in team selection, but also has control over tactics during the game.

The football captain has nowhere near this much authority. So, if Capello decides that he must take action against Terry, taking away the captain’s armband is a pointless gesture, and has no real impact.

John Terry would still be in the dressing room with any members of ‘Team Bridge’, removing the red armband he wears doesn’t make him invisible, and any murmurs of disapproval would still be audible.

Incidentally, on the subject of "Team Bridge" I wonder how much we can read into the fact that none of Wayne Bridge’s England teammates donned the shirt last weekend, instead leaving it to Carlos Tevez, Nigel De Jong, and Stephen Ireland.

So, if Capello does take action, his only real move would be to drop JT completely, as anything less doesn’t amount to much of a punishment.

Of course the other issue here is does the England manager want to create a huge whole in the centre of his defence just 4 months before the World Cup.

No disrespect to the other potential members of the squad, but the likes of Lescott, Brown, and Upson are not good enough to fill the void Terry would leave.

There’s no doubt that failure at the World Cup will be put down to the Terry saga no matter if he’s there or not, the question for Capello is whether he thinks England have a better chance with a captain who might’ve lost the dressing room, or a defence missing its most influential member.

If he does decide to leave Terry out Capello could face some discontent from those loyal to the Chelsea captain, like his club teammates Frank Lampard, and Joe and Ashley Cole.

Whatever the outcome of today’s talks, It’s a day of destiny for England’s World Cup hopes, and in the career of one of the country’s best defenders