Di Matteo silent on future with Chelsea, players want him to stay

Munich: Chelsea players made it clear they wanted Roberto Di Matteo to be given the coach’s job full-time after the Italian’s whirlwind three months in charge ended with the Champions League trophy - the prize owner Roman Abramovich had craved the most. A 4-3 penalty shootout victory over Bayern Munich on the Germans’ home ground after a 1-1 draw following extra time was the culmination of a stunning sequence of results. Chelsea’s first European Cup looked highly improbable when they trailed 3-1 to Napoli after a last-16 first leg but Di Matteo took over from the sacked Andre Villas-Boas and masterminded a comeback against the Italians and then wins over Benfica and, heroically, holders Barcelona. Asked if Di Matteo should now get the full-time job, captain John Terry told ITV on Saturday: “Look at that trophy. We hope so. “Robbie has been fantastic since he came in. “It was a superb display from the whole squad. When our backs are against the wall we step up to the mark.” Goalkeeper Petr Cech, who saved Arjen Robben’s penalty in extra time after Didier Drogba had equalised Thomas Mueller’s goal in the 90 minutes, echoed Terry’s view of the former assistant coach. “Whatever happens to him, he has got two fantastic cups. He has done enough to get the job but that is for the board to decide,” said the Czech, pointing out Di Matteo also helped Chelsea beat Liverpool in the FA Cup final earlier this month. [caption id=“attachment_315124” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Roberto Di Matteo with the Champions League trophy. Getty Images”] [/caption] Captain for the night Frank Lampard said Di Matteo had helped turn the club’s flagging season around. “It is not a question for this moment. He took us from a struggling team maybe going out of the Champions League and now we have won it, so just look at that,” Lampard said. The Londoners finished sixth in the Premier League, their worst placing for a decade, but the Champions League triumph ensured they would make next season’s top European competition. Media reports have linked Chelsea with former England manager Fabio Capello and neither Di Matteo and Abramovich have spoken publicly about the future. “I’m enjoying this moment. I won’t talk about it now,” former Chelsea midfielder Di Matteo said. Best moment of my career, says banned Terry Chelsea’s suspended captain John Terry missed the club’s penalty shootout victory over Bayern Munich in the Champions League final on Saturday but still described the win as the best moment of his career. The central defender was ruled out of the match at the Allianz Arena after being sent off in the semi-final second leg in Barcelona. “This is an incredible feeling,” Terry told reporters after Chelsea won the shootout 4-3 following a 1-1 draw after 120 minutes. “I’ve waited eight or nine years for this moment and it wipes out all those bad memories from this competition. It’s 100 percent the top moment in my career.” The stunning victory at Bayern’s home ground had made up for previous heartbreak in the Champions League, he said. “In the past we’ve been knocked out in the last minute, lost on penalties to Manchester United in the 2008 final and twice we lost to Liverpool in the semi-finals but this victory takes a big weight off everyone’s shoulders,” added Terry. “I can live with the fact I didn’t play because we have won. That’s all that matters to me because I care so much about this football club.” Terry thanked European soccer’s ruling body UEFA for allowing him to join the team in the post-match celebrations and letting him lift the biggest trophy in European club football. “To be involved was incredible,” said the former Chelsea youth team product. “If I hadn’t been involved it would have been very hard to take. “Credit to UEFA for making the right decision to allow all four of our suspended players to be involved.” Even when Chelsea looked down and out earlier in the competition Terry said he had faith his team could land the Champions League trophy for the first time. “You look back at the Napoli game in the first knockout round when we were 3-1 down from the first leg,” he said. “Everyone wrote us off but I believed in us and within the squad we all believed in each other. It’s great we’ve got so many big players for big occasions, players like Didier Drogba, Fernando Torres, Frank Lampard and Petr Cech.” While his team mates had no doubt been under immense pressure on the pitch against the Germans, Terry said it was more difficult to look on from the sidelines than to be in the thick of the action. “It’s probably harder watching. You know then what the fans go through and it’s really frustrating,” he added. “But it’s great to see us win the trophy I think we have deserved, to see the smile that was on owner Roman Abramovich’s face after the game and to see the fans at the end. “We’ve won the Champions League and the FA Cup this season so we we’ll go down as the best ever team in Chelsea’s history and that’s incredible.” Reuters