Breaking News: Rio Ferdinand to stay as Three Lions Skipper
Manchester United centre back has been reconfirmed as England’s captain for the Euro 2012 qualifiers. The centre back couldn’t feature in this summer’s World Cup owing to a knee injury suffered while training in South Africa. As a result, Liverpool skipper
Steven Gerrard was handed the arm band and the player managed the responsibility with ease. Gerrard was one of the few impressive English players in the World Cup. The player also scored the opening goal of the tournament for the Three Lions.
Gerrard has since been the captain of the English outfit and was in-charge when the side managed two wins in a row in the Euro 2012 qualifiers. Many expected the Liverpool man to stay as the captain, especially when Ferdinand was ignored by Manchester United
manager Sir Alex Ferguson for the armband and chose Serbian skipper Nemanja Vidic as the new club skipper. However, with Ferdinand fully fit from his knee injury, a decision has been reached that the centre back would resume his capacity as England’s captain.
It is a peculiar decision by England Manager Fabio Capello, as Ferdinand, who became the skipper in February, has captained just two pre-World Cup fixtures so far.
The Three Lions Captain saga started back in February when Chelsea skipper John Terry was stripped off the responsibility owing to his intimate relationships with teammate Wayne Bridge’s partner. Rio Ferdinand was confirmed as the skipper but managed a short
yet very successful campaign. England managed to win both the fixtures in which Ferdinand was the captain and the side was extremely confident going into this summer’s FIFA World Cup. However, Ferdinand had to pull out owing to a knee injury suffered from
a tackle by team mate Emile Heskey and was out of action for three months. The player returned to his club, Manchester United, this month and has managed to keep three consecutive clean sheets in the three fixtures he has featured in. However, Manchester United
manager chose Nemanja Vidic as the new club captain, owing to Vidic being fit for most of the season. Ferdinand, 31, had an injury prone season last year, where he managed just 21 appearances from a possible 60.
The reasons for such a shock decision are still unknown but it has been confirmed that Fabio Capello would hold a press conference later today, explaining about his somewhat appalling decision.
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