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Capello: Rooney could captain England

15/04/2008

England coach Fabio Capello believes Wayne Rooney has the potential to be a future England captain if he is given time to grow.

Capello is yet to choose his permanent captain - which is unlikely to be the Manchester United forward - although the Italian believes he is a great leader on the pitch.

"Wayne Rooney is young but I believe in the future he could be captain of England," he said.

"We need to give him a bit more time to get some more experience and mature a bit. The good thing is he has got a big margin of improvement ahead of him."

The England coach has chosen Steven Gerrard and Rio Ferdinand as his captains for his first two games in charge and confirmed that he will rotate the captaincy before he names his official skipper before the World Cup qualifiers next season.

"I am undecided who will be captain for the next game but I do believe Rooney could one day be captain," he said.

Capello also says Rooney is the most talented youngster in English football but needs to score more goals.

"The one thing he can improve is the number of chances he puts away. He doesn't convert as many as he could but I am sure that will come in the future," the England boss said.

England play the United States in a friendly next month and Capello is expected to name a different captain to Gerrard and Ferdinand.