Chelsea, England captain on Becks, MLS, '07-08 goals

	Blue through and through: John Terry has been a part of Chelsea FC since he was 14. Mike Hewitt/Getty Images
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BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- During its 95-year history, the Beverly Hills Hotel has hosted more famous guests than the Oscars. Marilyn Monroe was a poolside regular. The Rat Pack knocked back gin and tonics in the Polo Lounge. John Lennon and Yoko Ono hid from the press here.

Last Friday as I waited in the lobby, I got a wild parade of mega-celebrities who now seem to fit right in with Tinseltown's glitziest: Frank Lampard, John Terry, Michael Essien, Andriy Shevchenko, José Mourinho and the rest of Chelsea Football Club, who are staying at the hotel for the second straight summer during their fourth preseason tour of the U.S. Thanks to deep-pocketed owner Roman Abramovich, it's a collection of multimillionaires that would make any movie studio blush.

This summer, Chelsea is participating in the World Series of Football, a four-team exhibition tournament that also features the Los Angeles Galaxy, whom the English superclub will face on Saturday in what will hopefully be David Beckham's debut.

Should Beckham be sufficiently recovered from an ankle injury, that game will be special for another reason: The former England national-team captain will face off against his successor, Terry. The two haven't lined up on opposite sides of the ball since 2003, when Beckham was still with Manchester United.

I sat down with Terry, Chelsea's dominating center back, to talk about the unique moment and how he thinks Beckham will do in Major League Soccer, Chelsea's hopes of reclaiming the English Premier League title and what it's like to captain two of the most prominent sides in the world.

SI.com: With all of the Beckham hype, it's a bit lost on American fans that it'll be the current England captain vs. the prior captain. Is that special for you?

Terry: Yeah, it's very special. As England captain, it's a dream come true for me. Becks was very helpful when I got the captain's armband for England. He was the first one to call and congratulate me, which was very touching. Hopefully he can play some part in this game.

SI.com: At 26, you're only six years younger than Beckham is, but I assume you looked up to him. What does Beckham bring to MLS and to the U.S.?

Terry: Obviously I looked up to him. I think every young player did and still does now. Hopefully he's going to take the football over here -- soccer, as you call it -- to another level. Hopefully he can raise the profile and encourage the kids to follow through past school. If they do, maybe one day they'll play against the likes of David Beckham. That's a target for all the kids.

SI.com: In the four years you've come here, you've faced a few MLS teams. Last summer, Chelsea even lost to the MLS All-Star team. What's your assessment of the quality in the league and how it's improved?

Terry: [MLS has] some great players -- Landon Donovan and the likes of him -- they're very tough to mark. When they're on their full sharpness, we have to be at our best to compete with them. It's been very tough. Even from the first time we came here three years ago, it was very physical and I think that's why we enjoy it.