International Friendly: England v Czech Republic Preview

Newly appointed captain John Terry will lead the England team out at Wembley today, as they take on the Czech Republic in an international friendly. Capello named Terry as his permanent captain yesterday, having previously rotated the captain's armband to see who the best captain would be.

Today's game against the Czechs is England's last warm-up before their qualification campaign for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. It is also Capello's fifth friendly in charge of England. Capello has won three of his four friendlies in charge of England, his one and only defeat coming against France in March.

He will now look to win his fourth game in charge of England to put them in good stead for their back-to-back away qualifiers against Andorra and Croatia. Today's game is special for people from both teams.

Not only is it John Terry's first game as permanent captain under Capello, it is also the first game in charge for the Czech Republic's new manager, Petr Rada, who has been promoted from his role as assistant. Rada was apparently a surprise selection for the Czech Republic, after Karel Bruckner was sacked following the Czechs poor performance at Euro 2008.  

For England, goalkeepers Paul Robinson, Joe Hart and David James will all be vying for a starting place, looking to impress Capello and be England's No.1. It seems that it will be James who will get the nod in goal and receive his 40th England cap.

In defence, it looks like captain and vice-captain, Terry and Ferdinand, will partner each other at centre-back, while Wes Brown will start on the right, with Cole or Bridge on the left. In midfield, Capello could play Barry, Beckham, Bentley or Downing alongside probable starters Gerrard, Lampard and Joe Cole.

Up front, it looks like Jermaine Defoe will start and could be partnered by either Heskey - who is a surprise selection in the squad - Rooney, who might only play 45 minutes due to his lack of fitness, or Theo Walcott.

For the Czechs, it looks like Milan Baros will start up front, with the two British-based players, Petr Cech and Marek Matejovsky, also looking like probable starters, although the latter could be a doubt due to his lack of fitness after injury.

England will be looking to win so they are in good stead for their World Cup qualification campaign, while the Czechs will look to do the same to give their new boss, Petr Rada, the perfect start as manager of his new team.