Striding into the press conference in a dark suit, Rio Ferdinand looked like captaincy material yesterday. He spoke like a captain, too. Now comes the biggest challenge - behaving like a captain. Given his chequered past, the Manchester United defender knows that it will not be taken for granted.

If the armband sits round his biceps for one night only, it is still one occasion more than Ferdinand could have imagined when he was banished from the England camp for drink-driving as an 18-year-old. It is an honour that he could never have hoped to have enjoyed when he shouted at an FA tribunal in 2004 that “you might as well label me a druggie” after he was given an eight-month ban for missing a drugs test.

“I'm not ashamed to say I made mistakes growing up,” he said yesterday. “But the past is the past. People move on, mature, step up to the plate and become better people through adverse situations. Football's like that. If someone does something wrong in their life, do you shut the door on them totally?”

There will be those who splutter over their cornflakes as they read that Ferdinand is following revered international captains such as Billy Wright and Bobby Moore, but there have been plenty of rogues, too, who have led out England. Those who liked a drink (Bryan Robson), a gamble (Peter Shilton) and those who had been to jail (Tony Adams) to name only three recent miscreants.

Troubled by Steven Gerrard's introspectiveness when he donned the armband against Switzerland last month and alarmed by John Terry's outspokenness with Chelsea, Fabio Capello has turned to the next logical choice. That it should be Ferdinand, a man who went shopping rather than turn up for a drugs test, may suggest that the England manager was not spoilt for choice, but the centre half has captained his club and is one of the few players who can be regarded as a fixture in the team.

Given Capello's eagerness to find leaders in a team he knows are suffering a crisis of confidence, sharing the armband around makes sense, although there are limits. Mild-mannered Wayne Rooney, anyone? Ashley Cole? Glen Johnson, who was once fined £80 for switching the price on a toilet seat in B&Q so he could get it on the cheap? Ferdinand is positively statesman-like in comparison.

Picking the United man also gave Capello the chance to put Terry on his toes, something he performed spectacularly by announcing his decision to the players as they wolfed down their lunch yesterday. He had neither tipped Ferdinand the wink nor warned Terry, for whom the pasta must have become difficult to stomach. “It was a shock,” Ferdinand said. “That was the first I'd heard.” If he performs well enough, perhaps it will be more than a one-off.

There was a lot of talk about setting a good example, particularly at a time when players are under fire over the amount of dissent some are showing to referees. Booked fewer than a handful of times in his 65 England appearances, Ferdinand has never had a problem with on-field discipline. The off-field scrapes are almost too numerous to mention - we can start with his four driving offences - but Ferdinand is adamant that he has matured. Certainly the assumption that he was the ringleader at the infamous United Christmas party last year was unfair. On the credits list is his charity work in his old neighbourhood of Peckham in South London.

Perhaps one of the greatest allegations against Ferdinand is not his off-field misdemeanours but the feeling that he has not fulfilled his potential. At the 2002 World Cup finals he was rightly regarded as one of the tournament's outstanding centre halves. It is a level of performance that he has rediscovered only in the past couple of seasons, particularly through his partnership with Nemanja Vidic, which was the rock on which United built their 2006-07 title.

Now he can enjoy “the biggest honour I've ever experienced” and he seems intent on leading out the team, whether or not David Beckham makes his 100th appearance. Given that this is an opportunity that was not expected, he can hardly be blamed for thinking of No1. It may be that he has the armband for one game. By May, it could be back with Terry. But Ferdinand seems thrilled to know that he will always have Paris.

Captains insensible?

The two most obvious candidates for the England captaincy have not always displayed the finest qualities of leadership

John Terry

September 2001: Fined by Chelsea for drunken behaviour along with four team-mates at a Heathrow hotel full of Americans stranded by cancellation of flights after the September 11 attacks. Stripping, swearing and vomiting were reported.

August 2002: Cleared of affray after a brawl outside a nightclub in West London.

January 2007: Fined and reprimanded by FA after admitting improper conduct for claiming Graham Poll, the referee, gave him two conflicting reasons for second yellow card against Tottenham Hotspur.

Rio Ferdinand

September 1997: Dropped from England squad after drink-driving conviction.

December 2003: Incurred an eight-month ban for missing a drugs test.

May 2005: Receives his fourth driving ban, this time after overtaking a police car on the M6 at 105mph.

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