Wayne Rooney is poised to captain England for the first time in today's friendly against Brazil after an ankle injury left John Terry struggling to be fit to face the five-times world champions.
Wayne Rooney is poised to captain England for the first time in today's friendly against Brazil after an ankle injury left John Terry struggling to be fit to face the five-times world champions.
The injury forced Terry to skip his usual eve-of-match media duties and although it was Gareth Barry who stood in for him in front of the press, head coach Fabio Capello confirmed that Rooney would take the armband in the event of the regular captain failing to recover.
"If John Terry does not play, Wayne Rooney will be captain," Capello said. "He is fit and I think he is ready to be captain."
Capello's faith in Rooney will come as a surprise to some given the forward's impetuous streak, which was highlighted as recently as Sunday when he mouthed "12 men" into a television camera at the end of Manchester United's defeat by Chelsea.
The implied slur on the integrity of match referee Martin Atkinson earned Rooney a rebuke from the Football Association but clearly has not caused Capello to question whether the Manchester United star is ready, at 24 and having recently become a father for the first time, for the responsibility associated with captaining his national side.
Capello maintained that England's medical staff were confident that Terry would be able to play but, with his Chelsea team-mate Frank Lampard having already flown home, it is highly unlikely that the slightest risk will be taken with the defender's fitness.u00a0- AFP
