Terry leads by example but gives boss Capello a captaincy headache

The defender's heroic performance forced Fabio Capello to admit the appointment of a permanent England captain will be the toughest decision he makes as head coach.

Steven Gerrard scored England's second goal in front of more than 70,000 fans but Terry caught the eye alongside Rio Ferdinand.

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Leap of faith: Terry rises to nod home the opener

Capello said: "It is not an easy decision to choose the permanent captain. We have good captains but I will decide.

"When I have decided I will talk with the players and announce the name. I will do it when we are all together."

Ferdinand and Gerrard led England in Capello's opening two games and Gareth Barry is under consideration for the job when the team play Trinidad & Tobago on Sunday.

Terry said: "I'm a big man, I like the big games and it was great to score. It was a great boost for me. It was a relief really to have the England game rather than have the whole summer to dwell on what happened in Moscow."

Capello added: "I'm very happy for John Terry and for the England team because he played well. He's a leader. He has good charisma. Normally he is a leader with Chelsea and he plays like a leader for the national team.

"It was important for him to score a goal. Now he will go on holiday."

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Brothers in armbands: Terry with Ferdinand

Terry is one of seven players who will be left behind when England travel to Trinidad at midday for their final friendly of the season but Capello was clearly impressed.

The centre back, along with Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard, Joe Cole and the Manchester United contingent - Wayne Rooney, Owen Hargreaves and Wes Brown - will be excused the 10-hour flight.

Ferdinand, who has family connections in Trinidad, has asked to travel and Chelsea left back Wayne Bridge, who did not play in the Champions League Final, will also make the trip.

Capello claimed England are playing without fear at Wembley after they cantered to victory over an ordinary U.S.A. side.

The feelgood factor was back as David Beckham, who provided the opening goal with a trademark free-kick that Terry steered beyond Tim Howard in the 38th minute, received a golden cap from Sir Bobby Charlton to commemorate 100 appearances for his country.

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Rooney worked hard but failed to get on the scoresheet

The former captain, who won his 101st cap last night, said Terry's impressive return after the disappointment of Moscow was typical of him.

"We're not surprised by that as players because he's done it before, he does it every time he wears the shirt," said Beckham.

"He's disappointed by last week and he is still going through that but on the pitch you see the man and the player he is.

"He tackled, headed every ball and scored the goal and I think every one of us was happy when he scored. There is no doubt that he deserved that."

Although Capello still has problems to address - Rooney could have been sent off for a shocking second-half tackle - this was an improved performance in his third game.

The England chief added: "It was a good performance because we played without fear and that was very important but we move on with every game.

"Rooney didn't score but I think he played very well. That was important and I spoke to him after the game again.

"Psychologically it was important to win. We created a lot of chances but we have to score more goals. 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.

"We scored two goals, had a lot of chances to score more goals and David James had virtually nothing to do."