Carlo Ancelotti has tipped John Terry to have a big impact on this summer's World Cup.

Terry became the first Chelsea skipper to lead his side to the domestic double yesterday after a bizarre 1-0 win over Portsmouth at Wembley.

The smile on Terry's face as he lifted the trophy with Frank Lampard at the end contrasted sharply with the sadness he felt at losing the England captaincy in the wake of the allegations about his private life.

Plenty of questions have been raised about Terry's ability to withstand the pressure yet over the last few weeks, as Chelsea began the surge that resulted in a domestic dominance only six other clubs have ever experienced, the 29-year-old seems to have got his old swagger back.

And, after watching an ultra-composed performance from his leader, Ancelotti is now looking forward to seeing more of the same in South Africa.

"John Terry played well all year," said Ancelotti.

"Maybe he had some difficult moments but he was able to keep his private problems outside the training ground.

"He finished the season very well.

"He is focused and fit and I think he will have a fantastic World Cup for England."

It seemed a bit harsh on Ancelotti that the champagne corks had not stopped popping in the Chelsea dressing room before thoughts turned to the one that got away.

Whether the hunger of Roman Abramovich for his team to win the Champions League is being overstated is difficult to assess.

After all, the mega-rich Russian has never spoken of Europe being a Holy Grail himself and his jubilation as Chelsea collected their second major honour of the campaign was a throw-back to his first couple of seasons in charge at Stamford Bridge, when everything was new.

Yet a tilt at Europe is now expected of Chelsea next season, a task Ancelotti does not believe is beyond his team, even in its present form.

Inter Milan - and Jose Mourinho - might have got the better of Chelsea this term, but don't try telling the Italian they are too old.

"These players are not old," he countered.

"When you have a lot of players under 30 they are not old. They are in the middle of their careers.

"Maybe we can change some things for next season but we don't need to change a lot of players because of their age.

"I am sure about this."

Deco and Ricardo Carvalho, neither of whom got onto the pitch yesterday, appear the most likely to get the chop, whilst the issue of a new contract for Joe Cole remains a vexed question.

There will be new arrivals, although perhaps the most notable addition will come from the treatment room, where Michael Essien, such a driving force in midfield, has spent most of his season.

As Ancelotti's record at winning titles in Italy was not that great, he is going into unchartered territory as he plots the defence of a crown which, lest it should be forgotten, was only Chelsea's third in half a century.

The Londoners victory over Portsmouth set up a pre-season encounter with Manchester United in the Community Shield on August 8, the start of a season where Ancelotti is expecting a stronger threat from all sides.

"Our opponents will put more pressure on us. They will put more attention on us," he said.

"But pressure is normal. We are proud to have this attention.

"We will start next season level. My job will be to help the team win.

"We have managed to win this year. We want to win next year. The most important thing is to do our best and do our best together."