Fabio Capello, the England manager, is leaning towards giving John Terry a badly-needed lift after his Champions League final trauma by naming him as captain for the friendly against the United States on Wednesday. Capello is concerned that Terry is still suffering a crisis of confidence after the penalty miss that cost Chelsea the biggest prize in European club football.

Terry took Chelsea’s fifth penalty against Manchester United in Moscow and, had he scored, would have lifted the cup as captain. His miss sent the shoot-out into sudden death and Chelsea lost when the fourteenth kick of the night, taken by Nicolas Anelka, was saved by Edwin van der Sar, the United goalkeeper. The Chelsea captain was inconsolable after the game and would not even meet his father, who had travelled to Moscow, at the team hotel later, heading straight for the isolation of his room. He later issued an apology to his teammates, club officials and fans, blaming himself for the defeat.

Capello is aware that Terry was hurt to be overlooked in Paris, when Rio Ferdinand was made captain against France. He was missing with injury when England faced Switzerland in February, and Steven Gerrard was given the armband.

Graham Taylor, in an interview with The Times today, has criticised Capello’s policy of rotating the captaincy. “From John Terry’s point of view, there must be an element of uncertainty,” Taylor said. “If you’ve been the captain, you’d understand him wanting to ask, ‘Can you tell me why you’re not retaining me?’ ” In Paris, Terry was shocked that Capello announced Ferdinand’s captaincy in a curt sentence, without any advance warning. He thought that as the captain under Steve McClaren, the previous manager, he might have been alerted to Capello’s intentions.

Yet Capello has since made it plain that he did not intend to upset Terry or teach him a lesson. His brevity was more because of his loose command of English, which precluded a longer discussion about his intentions.

He is aware, though, that to keep Terry waiting much longer could cause more anguish at a time when his confidence is low. No firm decision has been made, and Capello does not intend to make an announcement until tomorrow, but it would appear that the thought of attempting to lift the gloom around Terry is appealing. Capello has said that he will make a final decision on the job before the World Cup qualifying campaign next season but Terry will welcome the opportunity to demonstrate his worthiness after what must surely be the lowest week of his career.