Hargreaves ready to move on from his 'fabulous moment'

Given the blood, sweat and tears that went into winning the thing, it is interesting to hear Owen Hargreaves say that his European Cup medal is casually looped over a chair in his house in Cheshire. His previous winners' medal, with Bayern Munich in 2001, is in a cardboard box in his apartment in Germany. The euphoria is over, says the England midfielder, and all he can think about now is what happens next season.

You could forgive the Manchester United contingent in the England squad, who play United States at Wembley tomorrow, for keeping a respectful distance from their Chelsea counterparts over the last four days at the team hotel. No mention of what happened last week and absolutely no asking anyone at the dinner table if they are missing a cup. But Hargreaves said, as in all good therapy, they have sat down and discussed events in Moscow in great detail and without embarrassment.

The 27-year-old said yesterday that there had been no tiptoeing around the fact that United's momentous evening at the Luzhniki Stadium came at Chelsea's expense. He said: "The penalties could have gone either way. I spoke to Ash [Cole] about the game, because I played against him, and I said to him it was a great contest. It was up and down all match. I had said the same to Lamps [Frank Lampard] during the game. Near to the end, with injuries and cramp, there were bodies lying all over the pitch. I turned to him and said: 'Jesus, what a battle this has been.'

"It was a big game and there was a lot at stake but we still don't forget the respect we have for each other. We've talked openly about the game and certain moments. It's been really good. Both teams have a clear conscience because everybody gave everything they had. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. It didn't diminish the season they had."

The obvious question was whether anyone had broached the subject with John Terry. Hargreaves, who dispatched his penalty – fourth in the first five – said he had told the Chelsea captain about the conflicting thoughts that went through his own mind as he stepped up to take his kick. It dawned on him, Hargreaves said, that the Chelsea players in the England team had watched him practise penalties every day for four weeks during the 2006 World Cup finals and had, in all likelihood, told Petr Cech that he favoured the goalkeeper's right side.

"I always put them in the same spot every time so I thought I should change spots and put it in the other corner. I told John that as I walked up, I looked at the goal and thought: 'Jeez, that looks small.' So I put it where I normally would. He laughed and said 'Yeah, I felt the same'. It's different when you are in training and there's nobody watching you. Then in a match there are 30,000 people behind the stand and the goal does look a bit smaller.

"Anyone would be upset at missing. It's a moment we all dream of and it can go either way. You can be the hero or not. If anyone's capable of dealing with that, it's John Terry. Obviously it's disappointing for him, but JT will learn a lot from that and come back even stronger next season."

Such has been the frustration at missing so much of the season – including most of September and October – with a tendinitis condition in his knees, Hargreaves said he would rather the season had not ended now. He said for much of it he was unable to train, only play matches, and, as a result, is not bothered about bathing in the glory of the Champions League victory. He spent much of the aftermath of Moscow's game feeling ill with exhaustion and the glow of triumph faded quickly.

"If I'm completely honest, it's already gone for me," he said. "It was a fabulous moment. When I won with Bayern I didn't even celebrate really. It was my first season, I had just broken into the team, I didn't even have a picture taken with the cup. My mum and dad wanted my picture with the cup and I said I didn't want to give the older players the impression that I was greedy. It was fabulous to put so much energy into last week's game and to come away as a winner, but I was content five minutes after the game. I don't need to milk a win for weeks."

Back to the more mundane matters of the national team and there is an element of gritted teeth and quiet stoicism about the players as they get through this final 11-day international camp. Most of them will be happy to get out the country before Euro 2008 and the national self-loathing about England's failure to reach the finals starts again. Hargreaves will probably be excused the trip to Trinidad on Thursday but there is one more performance required tomorrow.

There is a quiet desperation about having to trot out the usual platitudes about the strength of England's squad as they prepare to have their noses rubbed in it next month. How do we reconcile two English teams in the European Cup final with failure to qualify for Euro 2008? "It's more difficult with England," Hargreaves said. "Qualifying campaigns are long. Tournaments are very difficult, it's really the best of the best. We lost on penalties twice. If those went another way you could easily be here as a European Championship winner or a World Cup winner. We haven't found the answer yet."