It was going to require a big story to take some of the limelight away from David Beckham on the evening that he wins his 100th England cap, but Fabio Capello provided one last night as he awarded the captaincy to Rio Ferdinand and implied that John Terry must improve his conduct on and off the pitch if he is to lead his country again.

Terry, the Chelsea defender, was widely expected to be given the captain's armband against France in Paris this evening, even if only on a trial basis, but Capello, the England manager, announced to the team over lunch yesterday that he was turning instead to Ferdinand. In a later press conference, Capello suggested that he had found the Manchester United defender to be a model of professionalism and that Terry, who has been criticised for his behaviour on and off the field in recent weeks, and any other prospective candidates would have to show that they can reassert values of decency and sportsmanship if they are to have any hope of leading England under the new regime.

Asked whether Terry was paying the price for his conduct a week ago, when he and several team-mates pursued Mike Riley, the referee, during Chelsea's 4-4 draw away to Tottenham Hotspur, and whether the FA had pressurised him to look elsewhere for a captain, Capello said: “I wasn't put under any pressure and all the decisions I have made, technical or otherwise, have been my decisions, my choices. I've got my own eyes, I can see things and I can understand things for myself.”

Pushed further, Capello replied: “As I said before, we need to be role models when we play for England and when we play for our clubs. Part of this involves fair play and respect towards the referee and the public, who come to see the games. In that respect, we need to get back something we may be losing a bit.”

Capello's comments are in keeping with the FA's campaign to restore respect for referees and match officials and with their more private attempts to remind players of their responsibilities to the game. There are some at the FA's headquarters who felt that Terry did not promote quite the right image as England captain under Steve McClaren, Capello's predecessor. The Chelsea captain was vilified by councillors in Surrey last week for parking his Bentley in a disabled space in Esher.

Ferdinand cannot claim always to have been the perfect ambassador for the game, having been banned from football by the FA for eight months in 2004 for failing to attend a drugs test. The 29-year-old has also been banned from driving on four separate occasions, most infamously for a drink-driving offence in 1997, when he was dropped from the England squad by Glenn Hoddle before what could have been his debut. Earlier this season he was accused of organising United's Christmas party, which attracted lurid front-page headlines, but last night he said: “This isn't the time, but that wasn't me.”

He said on arrival in Paris last night that he had learnt from his mistakes and hoped to lead by example. “The past is the past,” Ferdinand said of his previous indiscretions. “I'm not ashamed to say I made mistakes growing up. It has taken me a while over the years to realise the responsibility of being a professional footballer, but I think I've grasped that now. People move on in their lives, mature, step up to the plate and become better people through adverse situations. Football is like that. If someone does something wrong in their life, do you shut the door on them totally? I don't think that's the right way. It's a great honour for me to be captain. I'm sure this manager hasn't taken into account what's happened in the past, but it's what's happening now that counts.”

Capello is eager to use this evening's friendly match at the Stade de France as a gauge of his new team's progress, but he also wants to take a look at Beckham, who appears certain to become the fifth player to win 100 caps for England.

He is also likely to give Terry and Frank Lampard, his Chelsea team-mate, the opportunity to impress, after they missed his first game in charge because of injury, but there is no guarantee of a starting place for Michael Owen, who needs to convince Capello that he can bring more to the team than goals.

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