Fabio Capello has confirmed Rio Ferdinand will take the captain's armband should anything happen to John Terry in England's UEFA EURO 2012 encounter with Switzerland at Wembley tomorrow.

Ferdinand lost the job in March when Capello decided to end the merry-go-round that began during the friendly in Denmark a month earlier and reinstate Terry, who had been stripped of the honour for personal reasons in the first place. It was not until Tuesday evening that Capello finally explained the reasons for his decision to the Manchester United defender.

However, in restoring the captaincy issue to the state he put it in four games into his reign, Capello has named Ferdinand as vice-captain, and first in line to succeed Terry should there be a problem.

"The captain is John Terry, Rio is vice-captain," confirmed the England manager. "I have spoken with Rio and told him why I made my decision. He said some things to me. He wasn't happy but he understood. At the end, we shook hands."

Capello certainly views Ferdinand as an essential member of his squad. Along with Terry, the central defender was the only player Capello was prepared to name as a definite starter against the Swiss. "I never thought he would stop playing with us. Not at all," said Capello.

"He likes to play with the national team. He is an important player and personality, for what he can do in the dressing room."

I have spoken with Rio and told him why I made my decision.
Fabio Capello, England manager

Stockdale exits, Green returns
Someone else who apparently likes to play with the national team is Ben Foster. The Birmingham City goalkeeper issued his own statement recently stating his intention to "take a sabbatical" from England duty. That has generally been speculated as a negative, based upon a belief that Foster views it as an impossibility to oust Joe Hart as England number one and he has better things to do with his time than train and sit on the bench.

Capello assessed the situation rather differently. "The problem with Foster is his finger," he said. "He played for four months with big problems. His fingers were always strapped together and in the end, he told us he needs to have an operation or something. Why shouldn't he come back? He is a good keeper."

There is an issue though. David Stockdale's decision to arrange his wedding a day before a vital international might be excusable on the basis Fulham's number two would not ordinarily have factored an England call-up into his planning.

Stockdale's withdrawal meant a call to Robert Green, who had also made himself unavailable, but changed his mind after the birth of his first child occurred slightly earlier than he thought. Green has not been given any chance to atone for his disastrous mistake during the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ opener against the United States, with Hart remaining on the pitch for the entire 90 minutes of the friendly match with Ghana in March.

"He has stayed with us," reflected Capello. "After one period, he was like a 12th man in the squad. He didn't play because Joe Hart needed more international games."