Manchester United's English defender and new England football captain, Rio Ferdinand in the crowd before the English Premier League football match between Manchester United and Portsmouth at Old Trafford in Manchester on February 6, 2010. AFP PHOTO

MANCHESTER, Feb 6, 2010 (AFP) - Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson admits he was delighted to hear that Rio Ferdinand has been named England captain after John Terry was axed by Fabio Capello.

United defender Ferdinand took over the captaincy on Friday after England coach Capello stripped Terry of the armband following newspaper allegations that the Chelsea star, a married father of two, had an affair with the ex-girlfriend of international team-mate Wayne Bridge.

Ferdinand is promoted from vice-captain and follows in the footsteps of other United players such as Gary Neville, Bryan Robson, David Beckham and Sir Bobby Charlton.

Ferguson said: "We are pleased for him and it's great for Manchester United to have one of our players captaining his country.

"Over the years we've had Gary, Bobby Charlton and Bryan Robson for 60-odd games or something so we're very proud of that."

Ferdinand is no stranger to controversy himself after being banned in December 2003 for eight months when he skipped a drugs test.

His suspension meant he missed out on going to Euro 2004 in Portugal.

The 31-year-old, who sat out United's 5-0 win over Portsmouth on Saturday as he serves a four-match ban for elbowing Hull's Craig Fagan, will lead England in their World Cup opener against the United States in Rustenburg on June 12.

"When I chose John Terry as captain, I also selected a vice-captain and also named a third choice. There is no reason to change this decision," Capello said on Friday.