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By Mike Collett
LONDON, Feb 5 (Reuters) - A new era in English soccer begins on Wednesday when Italian Fabio Capello takes charge of the national side for the first time in a friendly against Switzerland at Wembley Stadium on Wednesday.
The match is a warm-up for the Euro 2008 co-hosts who have struggled to impress for months but will also be a significant for the England players, eager to make a good impression on the coach.
Capello of course, is focusing on the World Cup qualifiers later this year after England failed to make the Euro 2008 finals.
After naming a 30-man squad last week which was then trimmed to 23, the players trained under Capello for the first time on Monday with none of them certain of a place in the starting lineup.
Capello has already shown the tough side of his character by omitting former skipper David Beckham from the party, thus denying him the chance of winning his 100th cap against the Swiss, who have beaten England just once in 16 matches in the last 60 years and never on English soil.
MATCH FIT
Beckham has been told he is still in Capello's plans and could return to the squad once he is match fit but if either David Bentley or Shaun Wright-Phillips get the chance and play well wide on the right, the LA Galaxy midfielder might not add to his 99 caps.
Capello is expected to name Steven Gerrard as captain in the absence of the injured John Terry, who skippered the side under former coach Steve McClaren. But the Italian will not name a permanent skipper until the World Cup qualifiers begin in September with matches against Andorra and Croatia.
Michael Owen boosted his chances of starting against the Swiss by scoring for Newcastle United on Sunday, while Jermain Defoe, goalscorer on his debut for Portsmouth at the weekend, was added to the squad.
Defoe takes the place of the unfortunate Gabriel Agbonlahor, named in the squad for the first time but forced to withdraw after damaging a hamstring in Aston Villa's 2-1 defeat at Fulham.
Swiss coach Kubi Kuhn, meanwhile, said the friendly would be tougher than normal for his men with England determined to do well.
"I know there's a certain risk for us to play at Wembley against a team that have to rehabilitate themselves in front of their own fans," Kuhn told Reuters.
"Even if they make a lot of changes from the team that missed out on Euro 2008, there are enough good players there who will want to prove to the coach that they are future national team players."
A minute's silence will be held before kickoff as a mark of respect to the Manchester United players killed in the Munich Air Crash exactly 50 years ago on Wednesday.
