Seven players involved in last week's Champions League final have been excused from England's trip to Trinidad and Tobago for the friendly international match on Sunday.

Coach Fabio Capello confirmed that of the men involved in Moscow last week, only Rio Ferdinand, who has links with the Caribbean, and Chelsea full-back Wayne Bridge, who did not get onto the pitch at the Luzhniki Stadium, will be part of his 20-man squad for the final game of the season.

Chelsea's John Terry, who opened the scoring in Wednesday night's 2-0 win over the United States at Wembley, is one of those given an early holiday along with Wayne Rooney, Owen Hargreaves, Wes Brown, Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard and Joe Cole.

Capello watched from the Wembley touchline as Terry staked his claim to the skipper's armband with a resolute performance.

Terry was leading England for the first time since September as Capello made the Chelsea defender his third captain in three matches after previously trying out Steven Gerrard and Ferdinand in the role.

It was a cathartic moment for Terry just seven days after his penalty miss cost Chelsea the Champions League final against Manchester United.

But he is not certain to retain the captaincy when England's World Cup qualifiers kicks off against Andorra next September because Capello insists he doesn't yet know the best man for the job.

"It is not an easy decision. We have good captains but I will decide. I don't know yet," he said.

"When I will decide we will talk with the players. Usually I announce it when we are together."

Capello took heart from the way England dealt with the pressure of playing at Wembley, where they often looked nervous under their former manager Steve McClaren.

"I think it was a good performance. We played without fear. That is very important," Capello said.

"It is important to win at Wembley for the players psychologically. It is one step forward but we have to move on every game.

"I'm very happy that the things we tried in training came off. There was a lot of movement in the team.

"When we needed to play the long ball we did and when we needed to play it short we did.

"I liked the pressing and the fact we won the ball back so quickly. We didn't waste a lot of time winning the ball back."

He may have been slightly more concerned by Rooney's typically combustible display.

The Manchester United forward combined well with Jermain Defoe on occasions but was fortunate to escape censure from referee Kyros Vassaras for a rash second-half challenge.

Capello defended Rooney, publicly at least. "He didn't score a goal but he played very well. He played for the team. I spoke to him afterwards and he was happy."

TeamTalk / AFP