Many years ago, the Daily Mail asked Terry to name the forward he least wanted to face. Terry chose Su Dong almost without hesitation. At that time, Su Dong was still playing for Barcelona.
Over the years, Terry had taken part in many similar events. Many journalists had gone to great lengths to pry more inside information from professional players, especially top professionals—particularly their opinions of active players.
When it came to forwards, Terry had always feared only one opponent: Su Dong.
Even though his teammate was Drogba.
Martin Samuel, Terry's friend at the Daily Mail and a renowned British journalist, once asked him a question during an exclusive interview. In the end, Terry told him not to publish it because he felt it was inappropriate.
The question was: Why are you so wary of Su Dong?
Terry's answer at the time was: Whenever I face him, all my defensive efforts feel completely useless.
Those were his true feelings.
To this day, many people joked about, mocked, and ridiculed Senderos, believing that Su Dong had tormented him so thoroughly that he was left with a psychological scar, and that he had an exceptionally fragile mentality.
But was that really the case?
For Senderos to make a name for himself at that age, at a club like Arsenal, in the Premier League and the Champions League, and to earn the backing of countless professionals, he had relied on far more than solid ability. He had also possessed an iron mentality.
The mental strength of professional footballers was something ordinary people could never truly imagine, because they were constantly carrying enormous pressure—enough to make ordinary people collapse countless times over.
One could imagine that even after Senderos left Arsenal, a club like AC Milan still wanted him. There was no need to