International

Manchester United's Rio Ferdinand is reportedly set to be named as Fabio Capello’s new skipper ahead of John Terry.

Ever since his appointment as England coach, the Italian has freely swapped his captains around in an attempt to decide who is the best man for the job with the likes of Ferdinand, John Terry, Steven Gerrard and David Beckham all having skippered the side in recent friendly matches.

However, with the crunch looming ahead in the form of the World Cup 2010 qualifiers in September, Capello wants to have a permanent captain in place before then and according to a report from English paper The Daily Mirror, the coach will snub Terry for Ferdinand as his new leader.

Ferdinand enjoyed a fantastic campaign last season as his commanding performances at the heart of defence enabled the Red Devils to be crowned as both champions of England and kings of Europe.

Chelsea skipper Terry however, suffered the ignominy of missing his side’s penultimate penalty kick in the Champions League final last season as well as enduring the disappointment of missing out the league title by a kitten’s whisper.

Although Terry was appointed as England captain under the doomed Steve McClaren regime, the Mirror claims that this aspect is the key reason as to why Capello wants to choose Ferdiand in the hope of breaking free from the McClaren era.

England’s next match is a friendly at Wembley against the Czech Republic on August 20. They then face two World Cup qualifiers in September, away to Andorra on September 6 and then four days later away to Croatia.