Capello looks to avoid further injuries: "We have to pray”

Steven Gerrard was Fabio Capello' first England captain.

Suddenly, as a devastated Rio ­Ferdinand was left facing the flight home, the Liverpool skipper has had the mantle thrown upon him again.

And now the man Capello feared was too intimidated by the demands of England leadership to be given the job has to do it under the even greater pressure of the World Cup.

Gerrard' elevation, following the strict line of succession Capello set down when he gave John Terry the job nearly two years ago, was confirmed as little more than a statement of fact by the Italian.

Yet it leaves huge questions, bigger ones than the dilemma of whether to play Ledley King or Jamie Carragher alongside Terry against the USA on June 12.

That Gerrard is an inspirational captain for Liverpool is undoubted. Just think back to Istanbul in 2005, Cardiff in 2006 and remember how he dragged Rafa Benitez’s men single-handedly back from the brink with two ­unforgettable displays.

But captaining England is different. It is one thing to be an emblem of your home city, another altogether to carry the weight of the ­expectations of 61 million.

After naming Gerrard to lead the side in Capello’s opening game with Switzerland in February 2008, the Italian is understood to have felt he was “too timid” under the weight of the shirt to be given the armband permanently, forcing the series of auditions which ended with Terry getting the job.

The “curse of the captains” has seen the wheel turn full circle and while Frank Lampard might seem more suited to the task – you know the Chelsea man would grasp the ­opportunity and grow 20 per cent into the job – Gerrard has to show he can take on the role.

Temporary skippers have not done too badly. Mick Mills led Ron ­Greenwood’s team through an unbeaten run in Spain in 1982, while Peter Shilton and Terry Butcher captained England with distinction after injury claimed Bryan Robson two World Cups in a row.

What could make things even trickier, though, are the extra concerns Gerrard will shoulder given Liverpool’s state of turmoil.

Where Sven Goran Eriksson happily let Benitez fly out to Lisbon in 2004 to explain to Gerrard and Carragher how integral they were to the Spaniard’s Anfield project, Capello seemed more ­reluctant to allow a visit from Kenny Dalglish.

“We have to decide about this and what happens, yes or no,” said Capello. “He (Dalglish) would have to ask me. After that, I’d speak with the players.

“But we are focused on the World Cup, we have other problems.

“Stevie is OK. But he has his telephone and the media trying to talk to him and I know ­Liverpool have changed their manager. I think and hope it can’t disturb him.”

Gerrard is, however, a worrier, introspective, and Capello felt he was too prone to looking at the ground. Now he must look up, look forward, look like a leader of men.

Not that Capello attempted to downplay the significance and the savage blow that had come in the last moments of the first full session at the Royal Bafokeng Sports Complex.

Capello added: “All the players here are important but Rio is one of the starting players, a leader.

“It couldn’t have been much worse on my first day. The other players were upset. They stopped training. But you have to go forward.

“Now you know why I name my team two hours before kick-off. It happened to me before, three days before the 1995 Champions League final, when I lost Dejan Savicevic.

“You have to deal with it. We are working about the mind, the spirit, the players. All the players are ready to play for me.”

Those players will, from this morning, include Michael Dawson, whose huge smile of delight will help lift the England mood.

Yet Capello now needs no more bad news. “I do not believe the football Gods are conspiring against me, absolutely not,” insisted Capello.

“But we have to pray: help us. No more.”

Amen to that. No more, please.