Ferdinand retains England captaincy after injury spell

31-year old world-class centre-back Rio Ferdinand has spoken of his surprise at being named captain again by England coach Fabio Capello after he returned from injury. During Ferdinand’s absence, Steven Gerrard was given the captain’s armband by the Italian tactician, and there were doubts whether Ferdinand would be given the role again. It is not officially confirmed that Rio will skipper the English team for the match against Montenegro. He says that his focus was on being fit and getting back into the English national squad, not on retaining the captaincy.

During the spell on the sidelines, Ferdinand has lost his status of Manchester United captain to defensive partner Nemanja Vidic, who is seen by Ferguson as being a more stable regular player. Fabio Capello praised Ferdinand’s leadership skills and also the fact that he ‘speaks during the game’. England take on Montenegro at Wembley Stadium on Tuesday night at 20:00 BST. Ferdinand’s comments were:

“I didn’t know if I was going to be captain or not – I was more concerned about being in the squad and being fit… it’s been a fair road back. It’s a great honour to be named England captain and it’s great to be playing again. To come back now and be named captain is fantastic but Steven has done a fantastic job.”

“The manager is always analysing you physically and mentally and you’ve got to perform. He has seen me as the right person and I’m delighted with that – but if it had gone the other way I would have shaken Steven’s hand and said ‘good luck to you’ – that’s the way it is. We’ve got a number of leaders in this squad – and the more there are the better we will be as a team. Steven and Wazza [Wayne Rooney] have worn the armband before so we’ve got players with experience who know their way around the pitch.”