Simply no tears as Terry quits.

English newspapers on Monday expressed regret over the loss to the national group of ex-England captain John Terry - but contrasted his impressive record on the pitch with his chequered individual history.

Terry's shock retirement from international football came hours prior to a Football Association was due to support a hearing into claims the Chelsea defender racially abused Queens Park Rangers' Anton Ferdinand, despite a court having found him not liable.

The football editor of The days newspaper said "the game has been tarnished" by the incident past October and "Terry did the right thing last night. It may possibly have been the hardest point he's ever done. "

"JT walks out on England, " proclaimed the Sun tabloid in a headline, adding "78 caps nevertheless no tears".

It said many fans "have grown to dislike a new player who, nevertheless, remains this country's best defender with a distance... Terry's career has already been a soap opera and, on occasion, an unsavoury one. "

Terry's reputation has suffered from episodes like a nightclub brawl, a fine over claims of drunkenly taunting US tourists soon there after the 9/11 attacks, and 2010 reports of affair with model Vanessa Perroncel, ex-partner associated with team-mate Wayne Bridge.

Twice Britain captain, Terry, 31, had become "not a symbol of unity but of scale, " according to a commentator inside the tabloid Mirror, who said their "legacy had become tainted beyond repair".

But the Sun said the Chelsea skipper retained the ability to surprise.

"He will probably return 1 day... as manager, " it believed boldly.

"Equally, it would not be the greatest surprise if one morning, we see Terry in an England shirt again. This is a bloke who was stripped of the England captaincy, won it back again but lost it again.

"Do take into account. Nothing seems to stick along with Teflon Terry. ".