Rio Ferdinand plays down England captain debate despite Steven Gerrard's heroics

09 September 2010 09:21
Rio Ferdinand has offered a blunt response to those questioning whether Fabio Capello will hand him back the England captain's armband on his return from injury. [LNB]Steven Gerrard has been inspirational in the role since the World Cup - where he also led the Three Lions after Ferdinand missed the tournament through injury - with England notching two impressive wins to open their Euro 2012 qualifying campaign in style. [LNB]Capello had previously announced that a fit-again Ferdinand would resume the captaincy, saying after England's 2-1 friendly win over Hungary in August: 'Rio is the captain, Gerrard is the vice-captain. Rio will be fit, we hope shortly, and he will be captain.' [LNB] Decisions, decisions: Capello must choose between stand-in skipper Gerrard (left) and pre-World Cup captain Ferdinand (right), close to an injury comeback[LNB]But, after his charges won two crucial games so impressively under Gerrard's leadership - 4-0 at Wembley against Bulgaria and 3-1 in Switzerland - Capello has become reluctant to talk about the matter, saying only: 'For me the performance of the player is important, not the armband. It is not a priority for me. The armband is not important.'[LNB] But, although Capello stopped short of confirming Ferdinand will resume his position, the Manchester United defender batted away concerns about the captaincy being returned. [LNB] Cruel blow: Ferdinand was forced to sit out the World Cup through injury[LNB]He said: 'I think Capello said that a while ago. I think he answered it the last time the squad were together.' [LNB]Ferdinand added that he was desperate to resume the role so cruelly denied him in South Africa. He said: 'Leading your country at a tournament like that is an honour. I did not get to fulfil that.' [LNB] Gerrard could keep England armband after perfect displays wow CapelloCapello to quit England after Euro 2012 as Italian eyes retirementArsenal agony as fears grow Theo Walcott out for six weeks with ankle injury suffered on England duty England No 1 Hart offered a bumper £90k-a-week deal to stick with Man City[LNB]  

Source: Daily_Mail