Gareth Southgate has chosen Tottenham ace Eric Dier as his captain to face Germany.
The 23-year-old utility man, who can play in defence or central midfield, was announced as the player to wear the captain’s armband against Germany on Friday night in the absence of fellow Spurs teammate Harry Kane.
The former Sporting Lisbon ace is expected to start in midfield after Jordan Henderson, Fabian Delph, Harry Winks and Dele Alli all dropped out of the side, with only Jake Livermore and Jack Cork being called-up.
Speaking after the decision to hand the armband to Dier, Three Lions boss Southgate stated just why the 21-time England international was the man to lead his country into battle against bitter rivals Germany at Wembley.
“Eric is an established player in the side now,” Southgate said. “He plays with maturity and intelligence. He understands the game really well. He is also a great role model.
“His approach to everything is very professional. He hardly ever misses a game and plays in an unselfish manner. I think he can be even more of a leader than he currently is and I am hoping giving him this reward and responsibility will also bring even more out of him as well.
“He has the respect of everybody because of the way he is. He connects well with the whole group. He is a really top professional.”
England will also be missing Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling after both attackers dropped out of the side, leaving Southgate with a streamlined, inexperienced squad to face two of the world’s best footballing nations in Germany and Brazil.
The Three Lions will be hoping for a repeat of their 3-2 win over Germany back in March 2016 which saw Dier score an injury-time winner, before going up against Brazil in four days’ time.
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