Terry takes charge of England

John Terry has banished any talk of England looking towards World Cup glory as he begins his second term as captain of the national side.

Terry has been given the armband by Fabio Capello in preference to Rio Ferdinand - who has been named vice-captain - as he reverts to the role also held under Steve McClaren for 15 months.

Terry expected Ferdinand to be named England captain and was stunned when Capello announced the Chelsea defender was keeping the job, handing him the task of steering the Three Lions through a tough-looking World Cup qualifying campaign.

Capello confirmed the number one factor in plumping for Terry was his strength of character.

Having overlooked Terry as skipper for the games against Switzerland and France, the former Juventus coach must have been impressed with his performance against the United States in May.

Just seven days after his Champions League nightmare, Terry excelled during his one audition as England skipper under Capello, scoring a goal as well to end any doubts about his mental state.

"It that showed what kind of character I am to the manager," said Terry.

"To bounce back like I did after that huge disappointment maybe showed the manager what kind of character I am. Maybe that persuaded him."

And there will be no bold predictions of what England can achieve in the future after the failure to qualify for the Euro 2008 finals.

It will be a deliberate low-key approach after some of the over-the-top claims from players in the past that England could conquer Europe or the world given that reaching quarter-finals has been the best it has achieved since the semi-finals of Euro 96.

Instead the focus will be merely on qualifying for the 2010 finals in Africa.

England has the last chance to hone its skills before the opening qualifiers with Andorra and Croatia, the team that ended its Euro 2008 hopes, in Wednesday's friendly with the Czech Republic at Wembley.

And Terry and his players will be looking to carry out Capello's wishes to play with less anxiety and be able to show more confidence and expression of their skills.

Terry said: "I'll sit here and say 'we have to qualify for the World Cup' and nothing more. Simple as that.

"I've personally learned a few things from the last campaign and I'll not be talking about winning the World Cup or anything like that.

"I've learned from talking about 'I want to win the Euros' and things like that.

"Let's forget all that stuff. Let's concentrate on qualifying for the World Cup in two years time. It is in the hands of the players to do that.

"We've got the manager and the players to move forward but let's not focus on winning anything. We just need to qualify for this World Cup and have to concentrate on that."