Ashley Cole Captains England Vs Ireland

 

Ashley Cole will captain England against the Republic of Ireland in celebration of his 100th cap.
With regular skipper Steven Gerrard missing, Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard was expected to walk the players out at Wembley.

In a confusing original announcement, Roy Hodgson seemed to suggest that Cole would lead the team out on his 102nd appearance before Lampard would take over the leader’s duties.

However, after further questioning, the former Fulham boss stated that Cole would captain the team throughout.

Initially, Hodgson said: “Frank’s always been the captain in Steve’s absence. I appointed him when I started over a year ago.

“But in actual fact tomorrow, Frank and I have discussed this and Frank’s happy for Ashley to lead the team onto the field in celebration of his 100th cap, which he’ll receive tomorrow.

“It’s actually his 102nd appearance. Frank and I are happy that he will lead the team out there but Frank still remains the captain of the team.”

But he later explained: “No. He is captain as well.

"The fact is that he, as you well know, does not enjoy the responsibility of talking publicly and that is why maybe in the past when the England captaincy has come up in the past I am sure his name will have been considered.

“But he shied away from that and he will have been happy to play under others.

“But on this occasion we all think this is the right thing to do, and he is happy to accept that.

“He was also maybe satisfied with our compromise, that with the press conference today, Frank Lampard would be the one coming in and speaking for the team here, whereas he will be doing his talking with his feet tomorrow evening on the pitch.”

After the farce had been cleared up, Lampard offered his take on why his long-time Chelsea colleague had been honoured with the armband.

He said: “Not only getting 100 caps, but the way he has performed over those 100 caps as the most consistent left-back probably in world football over such a long period of time, it’s the perfect gesture and very much deserved.”