England vs Switzerland Friendly 2008: Steven Gerrard to Captain England

England’s newly appointed Coach Fabio Capello reportedly to give the captain’s armb and to Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard temporarily. Regular Captain John Terry failed to get into the 30-men initial squad of Capello, who will make it 23 after today’s premier league matches. Chelsea defender Terry is now in rehabilitation from his injury that forced him out of action for the last few weeks.

Now, it is almost clear that Terry has to prove his skill and fitness to get back his place in the squad. Fabio Capello has fame for his being ruthless regarding selection process and uncompromised about emotion. Beckham’s 100^th cap was refused as Capello indicated his lack of match fitness as the reason behind his omission.

Goal.com reported:

27-year-old Gerrard was vice-captain for the Three Lions under ex-boss Steve McClaren, with John Terry the preferred choice.

But Capello's decision does not mean the Chelsea defender will not regain the armband at a later stage. The Italian has supposedly made clear to the players that Gerrard's appointment is for the time-being a one-off decision.

Well, Capello wants to experiment with different leaders to find out who is going to be appropriate to lead England. England will begin their mission of qualifying round of 2010 world cup later this year. So, it seems that Capello sees the friendly matches as an opportunity to finalize the squad before the start of world cup qualifying round matches. Now, let us see if Steven Gerrard can prove his leadership skill enough to get the armband permanently.