Rio wants to be long-term leader

Rio Ferdinand has set his sights on being permanent England skipper but wants to see captaincy qualities throughout the team to take Fabio Capello's men to the next level.

Capello has given Ferdinand, Steven Gerrard and John Terry the armband since taking over as England boss, and Sven-Goran Eriksson's chosen skipper David Beckham will lead the side out against Trinidad and Tobago in Port of Spain.

The decision on who will be permanent skipper is expected before the start of the World Cup qualifiers next season and Ferdinand said: "You can't put it into words what kind of achievement it would be to be at Wembley every game leading out the team and all over the world. It's something you dream about."

"Who wouldn't want to be captain of their country? There are four or five of us vying to become that," Ferdinand added.

"It's down to the manager, he has said he will make his decision next season so we will all be waiting to hear what he has to say.

"This team will do a lot more in the future and will have a lot more success if we had 11 captains on the pitch.

"Whoever gets the responsibility of being captain, it will be a proud moment for him and his family and all the lads will get behind it."

Only Ferdinand was taken to the Caribbean from the players that featured in the Champions League final in Moscow but the United defender welcomed another call-up, particularly with family ties in St Lucia.

"It's a chance to get another cap so I'm delighted to be here," Ferdinand added. "The manager gave the other guys a chance to go on holidays, he didn't for me, but if I was 18 years old I'd have taken his arm off for a cap and it's no different now.

"He asked me what I wanted to do and I told him that if he wanted me to play I'm available willing to play, I want to play for my country."