Great in defence, midfield generals, sharp shooters ... and we're not just talking about England
ENGLAND'S soccer aces paid tribute to the nation's real stars at Wembley last night - by wearing The Sun's Help For Heroes wristbands.
Salute ... Terry hails troops
The whole squad put them on before the Belarus game after we delivered a batch to lion-hearted skipper John Terry at the team hotel.
And after the match - which England won 3-0 - Terry led the squad in a special "thank you" applause to brave squaddies sitting in the stands, even stopping toSALUTE them.
The 77,000 crowd joined in, many waving scarves when footage of the celebrating troops was beamed on the stadium's big screens as they were hailed over the PA system.
Honour
Terry, 28, said later: "It was an absolute honour to lead the tribute and see all of the lads wearing wristbands.
Applause ... Ferdinand
"Our Boys and Girls do an amazing job around the world and we should never forget that.
"That's why the lads made a special effort to single them out for a special England thank you - it's the least they deserve."
About 120 troops - all in uniform - were invited to the game as VIP guests of the Football Association. They had recently returned from overseas.
Among them were 20 officers from 19 Light Brigade Combat Service Support Battalion, who arrived back home from Afghanistan on Saturday.
The rest were from the 33 General Support Squadron, The Royal Logistic Corps of the British Army, who have been stationed in Iraq and Kuwait.
Proud ... two-goal Crouch
Their CO, Major Rachel Parr, said: "We've worked extremely hard in very tough conditions so we're tremendously grateful to The FA and the England team."
Chelsea star John is a big supporter of The Sun-backed Help For Heroes initiative, which has raised £30million for injured troops since 2007. More than 1.4million people have paid to wear coloured wristbands to help raise awareness of the charity.
England's squad put them on before the final World Cup qualifier after we took them to Terry at the team's hotel in Watford, Herts. Last night's team, which included Terry, two-goal Peter Crouch and Rio Ferdinand, wore them on to the pitch but had to take them off before kick-off because of strict FIFA rules.
Before the match, busy Terry also signed a photo for each of the troops. They were presented at half-time, with the The Sun's help.
Terry added: "I can't imagine the experiences that squaddies must go through on the frontline, or what it must be like to lose one of your colleagues in battle and come home without them.
"I've always said these servicemen and women make me feel proud to be English. Tonight was no different."
YOU can help support our wounded troops by visiting the helpforheroes website.
The Sun newspaper, Thursday 15th October
Posted by: Grace
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