[funkdoctorspock]

John Terry will return to captain England in manager Fabio Capello's third game in charge against USA on Wednesday evening at Wembley.

Chelsea centre-half Terry, skipper under former boss Steve McClaren, is the third player to be handed the role under Capello as the Italian rotates the armband before naming the permanent captain ahead of the World Cup qualifiers.

Capello is hopeful the honour of leading out his country at the home of English football will hand Terry a much-needed pick-me-up after last week's UEFA Champions League penalty shoot-out heartache.

The former Juventus, Milan and Real Madrid coach will also be looking for a hearty response from his players after he suffered defeat in just his second game at the helm versus France in March.

Unbeaten in 2008

Bob Bradley's USA, meanwhile, should provide a stern test for England after an excellent run of form which has seen them go unbeaten in five matches - including triumphs over Poland and Sweden.

Goalkeeper Joe Hart, so impressive for Manchester City during the 2007/08 campaign, could be in line for his first senior cap, while Terry is set to be partnered by Moscow victor Rio Ferdinand in the heart of defence.

Capello has confirmed Frank Lampard will feature for the first time under his stewardship; meaning Steven Gerrard, Owen Hargreaves and Gareth Barry are to compete for a starting berth alongside the Chelsea man in the middle of midfield.

The Italian coach also plans to involve the remaining Blues players that took part against United last Wednesday, while Red Devils striker Wayne Rooney is expected to form a front two with striker Dean Ashton.

Gold cap

David Beckham will be presented with a commemorative gold cap by Sir Bobby Charlton prior to the national anthems after he tallied 100 England appearances against the French.

Bradley, who officially took over as national team coach in May 2007, has eight England-based players at his disposal for the fixture as USA look to avoid a third successive defeat against the English.

Wednesday evening could be a historic night for Los Angeles Galaxy forward Landon Donovan, who is poised to land his 100th international appearance and become the youngest American player to win a century of caps at 26-years-old.

Source

Since England aren't in the Euro's, this match and the match against Trinidad will have to do.

Engalnd 3 USA 0

[Mark]

England for a win, wount be easy against USA, but i think England will just edge it

so a 2-0, 2-1, 3-1 should do it imo.

[funkdoctorspock]

starting lineups:

England: James, Brown, Ferdinand, Terry, Ashley Cole, Beckham, Hargreaves, Lampard, Gerrard, Defoe, Rooney.

USA: Howard, Califf, Cherundolo, Pearce, Bocanegra, Dempsey, Bradley, Clark, Beasley, Johnson, Wolff.

[USAManUtd13]

No Donovan hurts us. Bradley's insistance on playing Clark resulting in two defensive mids hurts us.

So many free kicks given away in the first half. This is a pretty sorry performance so far.

1-0 England from Terry's head

[funkdoctorspock]

England has played very, very well.

I was a bit surprised that COle didn't start on the left, but Gerrard has been outstanding there.

Rooney has been a beast. I like him playing as the shadow striker. And I'm actually liking the Rooney/Defoe partnership. If given a bit of time, they are going to be fantastic.

Brown has been a bit sloppy in the back and Lampard has been absolute rubbish.

Becks, Hargo, Cashley, Rio and Terry have been very good.

Lots of attacking. Now to focus on finishing off with goals in the final 3rd. England should be up 3 or 4 goals instead of the one.

[Dirtycheat]

2-0 thanks to captain fantastic

but yeah, gerrard has actually been pretty good today.

btw, imo barry>>>>lampard

rooney and defoe impressing me. Very fitting for beckham to provide the cross for terry's goal and i am sure this will help him recover from his little "slip-up" on the 21st.

rio for captain though, all the way.

[funkdoctorspock]

Hey, hats off to Terry. He was completely focused on the match and gave it his all. Nice goal and very impressive that he didn't spit/curse out the opposing players.

England played excellent today. The balance between long and short passing along with excellent triangle and through balls were great and sorely missed from previous matches. This needs to keep up.

Gerrard was easily motm. He was everywhere and made sure to involve his teammates in play. Rooney was a close 2nd as he did the same. I'm hoping that Capello's "play more selfish" words sink home with Rooney. It will benefit not only England, but United as well.

Defoe is a great player who is long gotten the shaft from England's NT. I really hope Capello gives him a fair chance to start and integrate with the side. Once he understands where/how Capello wants him positioned, England are going to see some positive results. Rooney and Defoe seem like a budding partnership and I'm excited to see them progress in the WC qualifiers.

Speaking of WC qualifiers, I think I would like to see a midfield of Gerrard, Barry, Hargreaves and Beckham. With Lampard coming off the bench. Bentley isn't ready yet... crap passing and decision making. Lamps was Mr. Invisible. He just looked lost today.

Glenda Johnson actually did a better job today than Wes Brown. If this keeps up, Wesley will soon be starting on the bench.

Anyways, the result was never going against England and it was a nice win. Definitely something to build on.

Off to Trinidad where we'll see a mixed A and B team kick the snot out of TnT.

[USAManUtd13]

Ouch, my pride.

The US was as poor today as England was good. This was a comprehensive win for England who completely dominated the game. The US is not this bad, I know this is true, but it's increasingly difficult to convince my compatriots who don't watch the game that this, is in fact, the case.

Some of the decisions by Bob Bradley were completely baffling. Starting Clark was at the forefront of those mistakes. Clark is shit and he makes the rest of the midfield around him shit. Bradley, who is a great prospect for us (expect to see him at Boro or Everton next season) was awful and Beasley was a ghost along with Dempsey. And I attribute a lot of that to the awful play from Clark (can you tell I don't like the guy? ) There was no link up play from the defense to the midfield and the midfield to the attack; we just couldn't string any passes together. Then, at the half, down a goal, Bradley decides to take off our number 1 keeper for a nearly uncapped MLS player? Also takes off arguably our best defender for someone who has no future with the national team...? I know it's a friendly, but there should be some sort pride and desire to win the game. This shouldn't have been a tryout; particularly not a tryout for players who will not be a factor in 2010 (or even 2008, for that matter).

[dafulla]

Quite poor match from both sides. Might be a good thing that England are not playing in Euro 2008.

[PaperCut]

I liked the second half more. It was better than the first one and all together they played better as a team. In first half I thought a lot of times "what the f are you doing there?" but the goal from Terry was great, as was the cross from Beckham. Liked the team, though I didn't know one or two players but will get used to them too if they stay in the team.

I'm still sad England aren't at the EURO 2008, but maybe they have more time to concentrate on what they will build for the future now and rest themselves more so they're all fit and able to play when the qualifying round starts in September.