A world class left back

He should have been on that plane to Brazil and only a fool would try and tell you that Cole does not have what it takes to defend against the trickiest of wingers.

He may not have featured for Chelsea as much as he wanted last season, but there is no doubting the fact that Cole is world class.

His positioning is spot on, his tackling leaves nothing to be desired, his experience puts him leaps and bounds ahead of most other defenders and he can whip a cross in too.

There aren’t many players who can say they got the best of Cristiano Ronaldo – but Cole can.