Match report: Germany 1 England 2 | Capello's 24-carat gold reserves | How England rated | Debate: what is England's best XI now? | Agbonlahor merits inclusion in long-term plans | Rise and rise of Captain Responsible | Wenger eyes Walcott compensation | Giles Smith: was it meaningful enough to put I'm a Celebrity on hold for a night? | Debate: were Carson and Bent the only losers in Berlin?

I recall meeting John Terry on the golf course not long after he had missed the penalty that cost Chelsea the Champions League final against Manchester United in Moscow last season. He was still down, talking about how badly it had affected him - the personal recriminations, the sleepless nights. It was haunting him.

I've been there. Perhaps not to such a degree, not at such a definitive moment, but when something happens, when you make the mother of all errors and you can't get it out of your mind. No matter what anyone says to you, however much they sympathise, it's there, nagging, gnawing away, refusing to go.

For John, though - and I said this to him - his spot-kick horror should be used not as a stick to beat himself with but as a source of inspiration, a motivational tool for when he gets low again. One day, he will win the bigger prize; one day, redemption will be at hand. And I believe that day could be with England.

Just look at his display in the 2-1 win in Germany on Wednesday. OK, it was a friendly match and in a weakened side. Yet from start to finish, he led the way, as if it were a World Cup qualifying eliminator, as if it were his last chance to impress Fabio Capello, the hard-to-please England manager.

“Captain Cock-up” he could have been labelled after his error in communication with Scott Carson that enabled Germany to equalise, but who was it who was sticking their head in - where it could possibly have hurt - to nod in England's winner? John Terry.

And his beaming smile at the end, in contrast to the misery in Moscow, said it all. A year or so ago, when the debate raged as to who should wear the England armband, I sided with Terry. Rio Ferdinand and Steven Gerrard have their qualities, but, for me, John is the man to bring out that extra 10 or 15 per cent in his team-mates, a bit like Roy Keane did when he and I played together for Ireland.

Perhaps John is not the quickest and not the best technically. But - and this might sound a bit strange - he is the best England defender at defending. He commands the pitch, rarely gets caught out, breaks up opponents' offensive play brilliantly, inspires those around him and his clearances, whether with the head or foot, more often than not find a colleague. And he is always a threat at set-pieces.

What more could you want from your leader? And Capello, to his credit, got it exactly right with his choice. John is from the Terry Butcher and Bryan Robson mould, but better, much better. He will never get ten out of ten, but he will get a lot of nines, even after all the injuries he has had to endure.

May 21, 2008, was a bad day in the Terry household. The scars will never fade. But he can consign it to history by leading England to a greater glory. Spot of bother, John? Forget it.