England boss Fabio Capello has no doubts Manchester United star Wayne Rooney can handle being captain today against Brazil.

Rooney will captain his country for the first time against Brazil today if John Terry does not recover from an ankle injury.

And Capello said: "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 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."

Rooney, 24, began the week with a rap from the FA. He was warned for mouthing '12 men' to a TV camera - implying ref Martin Atkinson was biased - after United's 1-0 defeat at Chelsea.

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