Ferdinand Honoured at Captaincy

Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand admits he is "honoured" to be handed the England captaincy for tonight's friendly in France.

Ferdinand admitted he is "living the dream" after being chosen by Capello to lead England in the Stade de France.

He said: "More than anything, I am honoured. It is a cliche but, when you are a young kid, to not only play for your country but to captain your country is at the forefront of your mind. It is a dream and I am able at the moment able to live out that dream.

"The captaincy is obviously a rotational system the manager is using at the moment so it is not set in stone. But to be thought of in these terms is fantastic - not only for myself but for my family as well and my club Manchester United."

Ferdinand had been congratulated by John Terry who had worn the armband during the Steve McClaren era but he is taking nothing for granted.

He said: "'JT' (Terry) said well done and I wouldn't expect anything less because he is a great lad and a great player. But, like I said, the captaincy is not set and stone. I'm going to be the captain this game. Steven Gerrard did it for the last game. Who knows who will do it the next game? It could be JT, who knows?"