Capello: Captaincy decision was mine

Fabio Capello insisted he was under no pressure by the Football Association not to pick John Terry as England captain and maintained the Chelsea defender could lead his country again.

Capello was in the stands at Tottenham last week to witness the infamous confrontation between Chelsea's Ashley Cole and referee Mike Riley, an incident which also saw Terry lead a pack of players surrounding the official.

Capello named Manchester United's Rio Ferdinand as his captain for Wednesday's match against France and said: "I wasn't put under any pressure and all the decisions I've made, technical or otherwise, have been my decisions. My choices. I've got my own eyes, I can see things and I can understand things for myself."

He added: "I said I would rotate the captains. I will have a permanent captain from August. Until then, John Terry has a chance to become England captain."

The Italian also revealed what he believes makes a good captain.

He said: "A captain must be an example to follow in training and a leader during the game. And, of course, I would hope he could be an example, a role model outside the game - in life - as well.

"That's very important, always. Not just for the England captain, but for everything that we, as sportsmen, show youngsters. That is very important. He has to be an example."

Terry had been expected to retake the armband after missing the friendly against Switzerland in January through injury.

Capello also revealed he had not explained his choice to Terry, saying: "I'm not expected to explain my choices to anyone. I made my own choices based on reasoning and on facts."