Gerrard to skipper England
05 Feb 2008 - 13:06:37
Steven Gerrard will captain England against Switzerland at Wembley on Wednesday in Fabio Capello's first match in charge.
The 27-year-old Liverpool captain has been handed the armband as regular skipper John Terry is currently sidelined through injury.
Gerrard was vice-captain to Terry under former England coach Steve McClaren and has previously led the side on six occasions.
The 63-times capped midfielder was in possession of the armband when England failed to qualify for the Euro 2008 finals following a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Croatia back in Wembley.
However, Capello has confirmed he will not decide on a permanent captain until the qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup finals begin with a trip to Andorra in September.
"I have just informed my team before coming to see you that the captain against Switzerland will be Steven Gerrard," said Capello at a press conference.
"I have done it because I think he is an important player for England.
"I believe Steven Gerrard is important for everyone because he is a player who can inspire others."
Speaking about the possibility of becoming captain, Gerrard had said on Monday: "It would be a great honour.
"I think we've got to respect the fact that John Terry is still our captain, so until that changes John is still our leader.
"Everyone's nervous because he's a new manager and we don't know much about him and he doesn't know much about us personally, so it's going to take time.
"But there's certainly excitement. He's a very good manager. As a player you want to work with the best and the FA have certainly employed one of the best managers in the world."
Meanwhile, Capello has confirmed that all 23 members of his squad - including Shaun Wright-Phillips - will be fit to face Switzerland.