Capello plumps for Terry as England captain

(CNN) -- John Terry has been named as England's permanent captain under new coach Fabio Capello and will lead the team in Wednesday's friendly against the Czech Republic at Wembley.

The Chelsea defender has been given the vote ahead of Manchester United's Rio Ferdinand, who was another of the four players given the captain's armband in Capello's opening matches in charge.

Liverpool's Steven Gerrard and former England leader David Beckham were also tried out by the Italian.

Many people regarded Ferdinand as favorite but Capello has decided to stick with Terry, who was named as Beckham's successor in August 2006 when Steve McClaren replaced Sven-Goran Eriksson as England coach.

Terry himself expressed some surprise at Capello's decision.

"I'd never given up on the armband and never will do," he said. "I'd heard the whispers Rio got the armband so I was a little bit shocked, but I've got to make the most of it.

"My target now is to qualify for the World Cup and that's the aim going forward."

Capello said that Terry's "big personality" was the deciding factor.

"Rio, when he was captain, played very well - the same level as John," he said. "It was not easy for me to choose because they are very good players.

"The big personality of John was the reason I chose John, but Rio is very important to the team."

Ferdinand will serve as vice-captain of the team.

Capello may well have been swayed by Terry's comeback from missing the penalty kick that could have won Chelsea the Champions League in May.

The Italian played him as captain for a friendly against the United States less than two weeks after Chelsea's shootout loss to Manchester United in Moscow, and Terry responded by scoring the first goal in a 2-0 win.

"It showed the kind of character I am to the manager, to come back and bounce back from what had been a big disappointment to myself," Terry said.

"Maybe that persuaded him. The manager gave me a big boost by giving me the armband.

"I played well and scored the goal and it helped remove a small bit of the heartache."

Netherlands' new coach Bert van Marwijk named Feyenoord defender Giovanni van Bronckhorst as captain on Tuesday, a day before a friendly with Russia.

Van Bronckhorst, 33, replaced goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar, who retired from the Dutch team after its elimination by Russia at Euro 2008.

"I had (Van Bronckhorst) as captain at Feyenoord, and he did a fine job," Van Marwijk was quoted as saying by Dutch national broadcaster NOS in Moscow.

Van Marwijk took over the coaching job from Marco van Basten, whose contract expired after Euro 2008. Van Basten was the Ajax coach.