Soccer: All eyes now on Rio

It is an eye-wateringly honest account of a footballer's life that might shock even more open-minded readers - but there is a good chance that England manager Fabio Capello did not cast his eye over Rio: My Story before he made his decision to appoint Rio Ferdinand as England captain after he fired John Terry as skipper after a sex scandal.

"The truth is some women will do anything to crack on with footballers," Ferdinand wrote. "Some birds will buy you drinks all night, strip for you, get shagged with other people in the room and do all sorts of tricks.

"Some of the stories you hear - I admit I got carried away with it at times but you get older, more responsible and leave that sort of thing behind."

That was Ferdinand in his 2006 autobiography, although it would be fair to say that the author in question has stayed good to his promise to lead a less hectic lifestyle.

Having lost out to Terry in August 2008 when Capello first picked a captain, Ferdinand has at last been appointed to a role that the great majority regard as an honour and a few see as a curse.

It would not have been the circumstances in which Ferdinand would have wished to have been made England captain but, given his own liability to attract the wrong kind of headlines, perhaps he is due a change in fortune.

Ferdinand is also the first black player to be appointed as a permanent England captain - Paul Ince was the first to do it on a temporary basis - a significant milestone.

But Ferdinand could never be described as an uncontroversial choice. In fact, were it not for the circumstances in which Terry has lost the captaincy, there would be a good deal more questions over whether Ferdinand is the right choice for a role that brings a high-level of scrutiny.

Most notorious on his CV is Ferdinand's eight-month ban for missing a drugs test at Manchester United's training ground in 2003, which ruled him out of Euro 2004 and put him at loggerheads with the FA.

In his autobiography, Ferdinand was highly critical of the FA's decision to ban him, recalling the moment when he exploded in anger at the organisation's then executive director David Davies.

"It felt like my head was about to be served up on a plate," Ferdinand said at the time.

The more immediate doubts are over his fitness, which has meant the defender has played only 12 games this season for club and country, with a problem that originated in his back but has had a knock-on effect.

Speaking before he played for England against Ukraine in Dnipropetrovsk in October, Ferdinand claimed the injury was not career-threatening, although he has played only six games since.

He is also involved in a protracted dispute with the FA over his ban for an elbow in the face of Hull City's Craig Fagan, which earned him a three-match ban when he was punished retrospectively by video.

He was given an extra game for a "frivolous" appeal and has since signalled his intention to tempt the FA's further wrath by appealing again.

Ferdinand has always attracted interest for his off-field business interests, including involvement in the funding for a British gangster film that received mixed reviews and an online magazine.

He is also understood to have a connection with the New Era football agency run by former player Jamie Moralee.

Now married to his long-time partner Rebecca Ellison, Ferdinand has two young sons and a much lower profile than when he was more famous for the missed drugs tests or that infamous trip to Ayia Napa. Capello will hope it stays that way.

Meanwhile Terry was yesterday promised he would remain captain of Chelsea whatever happens in his private life.

The Chelsea manager, Carlo Ancelotti, speaking before Terry was sacked as England captain, said the defender retained the 100 per cent support of the club, and would remain to do so whatever further revelations emerge in the coming days.

Ancelotti said: "If the private life of one player doesn't involve or impinge upon his professional life, I don't have a problem. If John comes to the training ground but is not able to train because he's tired or nervous, I can be interested then. But he comes here and trains very well.

"He's always ready to train, always focused, always involved," Ancelotti added. "He didn't kill anybody. Here, he will find a good place to stay.

"I have a very good relationship with John in the training ground. I'm not interested in anything else. I'm not interested in the private life of anybody. Sometimes, in the past, some coaches phoned home to control their players.

Asked why Fabio Capello might feel differently about Terry's suitability to be captain, Ancelotti replied: "I don't know. I train a club and Capello trains a national team. That could be difference.

"To maintain the captain as John Terry at Chelsea is my decision. Capello would do whatever he wants."

Terry did not train with his team-mates yesterday, with a recurrence of his back injury and that important - if brief - meeting with Fabio Capello to attend, but Ancelotti said the captain will play against Arsenal tonight (NZT) in a game that could potentially put Chelsea nine points clear of their London rivals.

Chelsea won 3-0 at the Emirates in November by stifling the Arsenal midfield and then hitting them with devastating counter-attacks. The tactics worked to perfection, and succeeded equally well in winding up Arsene Wenger, the Arsenal manager.

"In the last game against Arsenal, it was very good for us," Ancelotti said.

"We played the right way and did a very good defence and counter-attack. That's the right way to play against Arsenal on Sunday. We are looking to repeat the same result. Also, Arsenal want to change the game, want to change their performance," he added.

"Tactically we did very well in that match. Arsenal have fantastic midfield players with strong quality - Fabregas, Arshavin and Nasri - but we didn't give them the possibility to play easily. It's all important to put pressure on them with our midfield, and not leave the space to play."

There is no love lost between Ancelotti and Wenger, with the Chelsea manager calling his Arsenal counterpart a "magician" for being able to predict Chelsea would drop points after their emphatic win in November.

Time has shown Wenger was spot on as Chelsea have taken just 19 out of 30 points in the 10 Premier League games since the clubs last met.

Tomorrow Wenger will have the opportunity to prove his other assessment was correct, in saying there is little to choose between the teams.

His theory is not backed up by the statistics however, as Arsenal have a terrible recent record against their close rivals. The Gunners have lost their last three meetings with Chelsea 2-1, 4-1 and 3-0, and they have lost 3-1 and 2-1 to Manchester United this season.

Wenger's belief in his team however remains as firm as ever. "I don't feel we've been overrun," he said yesterday. "We have put ourselves in a position where we are open to counter-attacks and we lack a bit of patience."

Arsenal's lack of physical presence against Chelsea in November prompted Sky TV's anchorman Richard Keys to sum the match up as "men against boys", an assessment that provoked an immediate and stinging response from Wenger, who denied that his players had been out-muscled.

Analysis of the physical characteristics of the two starting teams in November shows a startling difference in the size and shape of the two sides. Chelsea edged it on height, the average Chelsea player being 6ft, compared to the Arsenal side's average height of 5ft 11in.

However there is a remarkable disparity in the two team's weights. The average Arsenal player weighed in at 11st 9lb, while the average Chelsea player tipped the scales at 13st 2lb - a difference of a stone and a half per player.

Not so much men against boys, more bulldogs versus whippets.

- INDEPENDENT