Gerrard proud of England captain role

STEVEN GERRARD revealed his pride at being made England captain for tonight's friendly in Sweden as he set his sights on emulating his central midfield role models Patrick Vieira and Roy Keane.

Vieira and Keane both captain their club sides, just as Gerrard has started to do this season at Liverpool, with Sven-Goran Eriksson paying tribute to the increased maturity of the 23-year-old.

Indeed, when David Beckham and Michael Owen were both ruled out of tonight's game in Gothenburg, it was Gerrard to whom he turned as the stand-in skipper.