Doha, Nov 14 England manager Fabio Capello has said that striker Wayne Rooney will lead the team against Brazil on Saturday if regular captain John Terry does not recover from an ankle injury.

"Rooney will be ready to be a captain, why not? When you choose some players to be captain, you have to be a leader in the dressing room or a leader on the pitch. Rooney is always a leader on the pitch but he's young so maybe less in the dressing room. But he can be good there," The Sun quoted Capello, as saying.

"The captain is John Terry and the vice-captain is Rio Ferdinand because they are really good on the pitch and in the dressing room. But now we need one leader on the pitch because we miss a lot of players and for that reason I choose Rooney if Terry doesn't play," he said.

It will be the first opportunity for the 24-year-old to captain his country.

Capello further said that Rooney has the capability of emulating the likes of Pele, Diego Maradona and Michel Platini by flourishing as a captain, but he will have to control his emotions.

"Rooney has to understand that the next game he will be focused because he will be the captain of the national team," Capello added. (ANI)