Terry is aware that England have talked up their chances in the past of winning major tournaments only for them to fail to deliver the goods and stutter at the quarter-final stage on three occasions.

But the Chelsea defender insists the focus has to be purely on making sure England do not suffer a repeat of the heartbreak which saw them fail to qualify for the Euro 2008 finals.

He will effectively begin his second term of office when leading England out in Wednesday's friendly international with the Czech Republic at Wembley.

Terry, who was appointed captain by Steve McClaren after the 2006 World Cup in Germany, said: "The target now has to be to qualify for the World Cup. That has to be the aim now.

"Maybe in the past there has been talk about winning things even before we have got there. I've certainly learnt from before, talking about 'I want to win the Euros' and things like that.

"Let's forget about all stuff like that. Let's just get our heads down to the business of qualifying for Africa and the World Cup in two years time.

"Let's not focus on winning anything. We need to qualify for the next World Cup, simple as that."

Terry is determined to try to grab a second chance of leading England to glory after the two setbacks against Croatia ended their hopes of participating in the Euro 2008 finals in Austria and Switzerland.

He said: "This is like having another bit of the cherry for me as captain and the players. It was obviously a massive blow not to go through to the Euro finals.

"This is another chance to captain a winning team. It is in my hands and that of the players to do that."

Capello is aware that the action will soon start for real, with the opening World Cup qualifiers with Andorra and Croatia next month, after what will have been a five match build-up.

He said: "For the national team, this is a very important season. We have decided on the captain, we have decided on a lot of players in the squad.

"We have to play every game like it is a cup final. I have been here a few months now and I feel that I know the players a lot better.

"We have played four friendly games and the two at the end of last season with the United States and Trinidad and Tobago, when we were away together for 10 days, was very important for me.

"Now we need to concentrate on qualifying for the World Cup. It is as simple as that."

Many pundits expected Ferdinand to get the nod ahead of the Czech Republic friendly but Terry believes his goalscoring captain's performance against USA - just seven days after his Moscow penalty miss - had a major influence on Capello.

"It showed my character to the manager," said Terry.

"To bounce back the way I did after that huge disappointment showed what kind of person I am. Maybe that persuaded him.

"I don't know if it did but it was a big boost to get the captain's armband against the United States.

"I went on the pitch, played well and scored the goal. It helped to relieve the pressure a small amount for me and now I just want to get on with the job.

"Everybody realises the armband means the world to me," he said.

"For me to get it above the likes of him (Ferdinand) and the other players in the squad is a great honour and a fabulous achievement."

While Capello accepted Ferdinand did well in France and had impressed all season with Manchester United, he felt Terry's sheer force of character was the major factor in his favour.

"It was not easy for me to choose because they are very good players," said Capello.

"But the captain is very important because he is the driver of the team. Rio is very important but I chose John because of his big personality."