Rio Ferdinand

Written by Matt Pitt

England Player Profiles

Born November 7, 1978 in Peckham, London, Rio Gavin Ferdinand is one of football's rags to riches stories. Despite starting life in one of London's poorest areas, he now commands wages of £130,000 per week and is the recently installed England captain.

Throughout his career Ferdinand's key attributes have been his physical presence and his composure on the ball. Having played for Millwall, Queens Park Rangers and West Ham United youth teams, he made his full pro debut, for West Ham, back in 1996 and went on  to make 127 appearances for The Hammers before being signed by Leeds United for a record £18,000,000 in 2000.

He helped Leeds United reach the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League and became a natural choice for club captain when Lucas Radebe retired at the end of the 2000/01 season. Ferdinand became an iconic figure for the Leeds supporters but when the club announced it was on the verge of going bust, with debts in excess of £120,000,000, the fans feared their prize asset would be sold on.

This fear was soon realized when Ferdinand was sold in 2002, after only 54 appearances for the Whites, to arch-rivals Manchester United for another records fee, this time £29,100,000. The transfer was a bitter pill to swallow for fans of Leeds United but it was one that would see Ferdinand become one of the best centre backs in the world.

He has so far made over 200 appearances for Manchester United and has Premier League and Champions League winners medals in his glittering trophy cabinet but it is glory with England that Ferdinand really wants now.

His first England cap was awarded when he came on as a substitute in a friendly against Cameroon aged just 19 years and eight days, making him the youngest-ever defender to play for the national side. Eleven years later and he captained his country for the first time when England took on France, again in a friendly match.

With John Terry losing the captain's armband after revelations about his private life, England manager Fabio Capello announced Ferdinand was being promoted to England captain with immediate effect.

Ferdinand has so far won 76 England caps, scoring three international goals, but he has not played much for England or Manchester United in recent months after suffering from a long term back problem for the past 18 months, an injury that has seen him on the sidelines for the past three months.

Regardless of the mistakes he has made in the past, there is no doubting Rio Ferdinand is still one of the best central defenders in the world and it could turn out that he is the man to bring the World Cup back home to its rightful home, England.

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