In the span of hours, it was announced that two of the best players in England will be forced miss time, albeit for entirely different reasons.
England's Football Association announced on Thursday that midfielder Frank Lampard will miss Euro 2012 because of a thigh injury he suffered during training on Wednesday. It is another blow for an England squad that will be without midfielder Gareth Barry, who suffered a stomach injury in a friendly with Norway over the weekend.
England will have the services of John Terry however, although his club team Chelsea cannot say the same. Terry was suspended by UEFA, the governing body of soccer in England, for three matches for his red card in the Champions League semifinal against Barcelona. He was clearly seen kneeing Barca forward Alexis Sanchez intentionally.
The suspension is only for games at the club level, meaning Terry can compete in the European Championship. Having already sat out one game, the Champions League final against Bayern Munich, he will miss Chelsea's next two matches: the Super Cup match against Europa League winner Atletico Madrid in August, plus Chelsea's first Champions League group-stage match in September.
Terry and Chelsea may challenge UEFA's ruling.
As for England, they will replace Barry with defender Phil Jagielka while Jordan Henderson will occupy Lampard's spot on the roster. It may mark the end of Lampard's career with England's national team in major tournaments. The 34-year-old has slipped in the midfielder pecking order and manager Roy Hodgson may look towards younger players in the future.
