John Terry has been named as England captain for the 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign.
The Chelsea skipper beat off competition from Manchester United's Rio Ferdinand, who was widely tipped for the post.
Two years ago, Terry was handed the armband by then England coach Steve McClaren following another two-horse race, this time with Steven Gerrard, but today boss Fabio Capello has given Terry the nod.
Chelsea centre-half Terry, whose previous tenure leading out England ended with a failure to qualify for Euro 2008, will lead his country into the vital qualifying campaign which hopefully ends in South Africa and the 2010 World Cup Finals.
Capello has taken his time before coming to a decision and Terry will begin his second stint as permanent captain in tomorrow's friendly against the Czech Republic at Wembley.
It's the last game before the qualifying campaign kicks off next month with two ties, against Andorra, in Barcelona, and then a much tougher challenge against Slaven Bilic's Croatia, in Zagreb.
The Chelsea skipper beat off competition from Manchester United's Rio Ferdinand, who was widely tipped for the post.
Two years ago, Terry was handed the armband by then England coach Steve McClaren following another two-horse race, this time with Steven Gerrard, but today boss Fabio Capello has given Terry the nod.
Chelsea centre-half Terry, whose previous tenure leading out England ended with a failure to qualify for Euro 2008, will lead his country into the vital qualifying campaign which hopefully ends in South Africa and the 2010 World Cup Finals.
Capello has taken his time before coming to a decision and Terry will begin his second stint as permanent captain in tomorrow's friendly against the Czech Republic at Wembley.
It's the last game before the qualifying campaign kicks off next month with two ties, against Andorra, in Barcelona, and then a much tougher challenge against Slaven Bilic's Croatia, in Zagreb.
England boss Fabio Capello has insisted that restoring David Beckham to the captaincy of his country for today's friendly against Trinidad and Tobago is not simply a PR stunt.
Capello admitted that for his employers, the Football Association, the game might be a political exercise to win the backing of Jack Warner, the FIFA vice-president who heads Caribbean football, for their bid to host the World Cup in 2018. But Capello is adamant that footballing reasons alone were behind his decision to restore Beckham to the captaincy, a position the player gave up following the 2006 World Cup.
The manager said: 'My work is not PR, my work is to be manager and to win, nothing more. It's possible, I think, for the FA the match is PR. For me, it's a game. It's not because of his name that Beckham is here, it's because he's fit and a very good player.'
The Italian, who for a time exiled Beckham from his team while the pair were at Real Madrid, says the LA Galaxy midfielder is in contention not only to play at the 2010 World Cup, by which time he will be 35, but also to be his full-time skipper.
That role is still thought more likely to go to Manchester United's Rio Ferdinand, but Capello rejected suggestions that Beckham, 33, donning the armband today is another gimmick for what many regard as the most blatantly political match England have ever played.
Capello added: 'I decided there were five or six candidates (to be captain). Beckham is one of the candidates. I do not know the future. It's possible he will play at the 2010 World Cup. It depends if he's fit physically.' Some will regard the Beckham return to favour as a backward step but he demonstrated with the cross, from which John Terry gave England the lead in their 2-0 friendly win over the USA at Wembley last week, that he can still make key contributions to the team.
Capello reiterated that the door was always open for players like Blackburn's David Bentley to move ahead of Beckham in the pecking order, but it seems that the Italian does not believe any of the young pretenders have yet made a compelling case to replace the man who has been England's talisman for so long.
Ferdinand, meanwhile, claims this first extended get-together of Capello's reign has deepened his conviction that the Italian is the man to end decades of underachievement by England.
'The games against the United States and Trinidad and the training we've been doing are geared towards achieving a lot more than we have under other England managers,' said Ferdinand, the only Englishman who featured in the United-Chelsea Champions League final to make this trip.
'There will be a big hole on my c.v. if I don't achieve something with England. 'It's obvious that it has got to the stage now with England where it is a psychological thing, because the country hasn't achieved anything of note since 1966 so there hasn't been that consistency of a winning mentality.
'First and foremost, you have to have the quality, but then you need to have the belief factor, and that is what the manager is trying hard to instill.
'He sees us as individuals with our clubs performing week in, week out at a good level in the Premier League and Champions League, and now it's about getting that as a collective unit in an England shirt.
'This is the most optimistic I've ever felt with England. The manager's record speaks for itself and if you can't believe in someone of his stature, who has had his achievements in football, then I don't know who you can believe in.'
Capello admitted that for his employers, the Football Association, the game might be a political exercise to win the backing of Jack Warner, the FIFA vice-president who heads Caribbean football, for their bid to host the World Cup in 2018. But Capello is adamant that footballing reasons alone were behind his decision to restore Beckham to the captaincy, a position the player gave up following the 2006 World Cup.
The manager said: 'My work is not PR, my work is to be manager and to win, nothing more. It's possible, I think, for the FA the match is PR. For me, it's a game. It's not because of his name that Beckham is here, it's because he's fit and a very good player.'
The Italian, who for a time exiled Beckham from his team while the pair were at Real Madrid, says the LA Galaxy midfielder is in contention not only to play at the 2010 World Cup, by which time he will be 35, but also to be his full-time skipper.
That role is still thought more likely to go to Manchester United's Rio Ferdinand, but Capello rejected suggestions that Beckham, 33, donning the armband today is another gimmick for what many regard as the most blatantly political match England have ever played.
Capello added: 'I decided there were five or six candidates (to be captain). Beckham is one of the candidates. I do not know the future. It's possible he will play at the 2010 World Cup. It depends if he's fit physically.' Some will regard the Beckham return to favour as a backward step but he demonstrated with the cross, from which John Terry gave England the lead in their 2-0 friendly win over the USA at Wembley last week, that he can still make key contributions to the team.
Capello reiterated that the door was always open for players like Blackburn's David Bentley to move ahead of Beckham in the pecking order, but it seems that the Italian does not believe any of the young pretenders have yet made a compelling case to replace the man who has been England's talisman for so long.
Ferdinand, meanwhile, claims this first extended get-together of Capello's reign has deepened his conviction that the Italian is the man to end decades of underachievement by England.
'The games against the United States and Trinidad and the training we've been doing are geared towards achieving a lot more than we have under other England managers,' said Ferdinand, the only Englishman who featured in the United-Chelsea Champions League final to make this trip.
'There will be a big hole on my c.v. if I don't achieve something with England. 'It's obvious that it has got to the stage now with England where it is a psychological thing, because the country hasn't achieved anything of note since 1966 so there hasn't been that consistency of a winning mentality.
'First and foremost, you have to have the quality, but then you need to have the belief factor, and that is what the manager is trying hard to instill.
'He sees us as individuals with our clubs performing week in, week out at a good level in the Premier League and Champions League, and now it's about getting that as a collective unit in an England shirt.
'This is the most optimistic I've ever felt with England. The manager's record speaks for itself and if you can't believe in someone of his stature, who has had his achievements in football, then I don't know who you can believe in.'
