Soccer / Football : World Cup 2010 : Qualifying Group Europe

John Terry was dropped as England's captain by coach Fabio Capello on Friday, a week after allegations became public that the defender had an affair with the former girlfriend of teammate Wayne Bridge. Rio Ferdinand, who had been vice captain, will take over. "I fully respect Fabio Capello's decision," said Terry, who remains as Chelsea's captain. "I will continue to give everything for England."

Former Croatia trainer Zlatko Kranjcar will lead Montenegro through Euro 2012 qualifying after being named as only their second ever coach. "Montenegro have a very talented and very interesting group of players," said Kranjcar. "My predecessor Zoran Filipoviæ formed that group and did a good job. What I noticed is that players need to play with more passion and professionalism. I will try to change that."

The Football Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina has confirmed that Safet Susic will be the new coach of the national team following the resignation of Miroslav Blazevic earlier this month. Blazevic stepped down after Bosnia failed to qualify for next year's World Cup in South Africa in a playoff against Portugal. The 54-year-old Susic started his coaching career in 1994 with French club Cannes and managed teams in Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

Craig Levein has been confirmed as the new Scotland national coach after he signed a two-and-a-half year contract. The 45-year-old replaces George Burley who was sacked in November after winning just three out of his 14 games in charge and missing out on a playoff spot for the World Cup finals. Levein had spells in charge of Raith Rovers, Leicester City and Hearts as a manager before joining Dundee United in 2006.

Ukraine have not renewed the contract of coach Olexiy Mykhaylychenko after the national team failed to qualify for next year's World Cup in South Africa. Mykhaylychenko's two-year contract finishes at the end of this year. According to media reports, the Ukrainian Football Association are eager to appoint Mircea Lucescu as the new head coach. Lucescu is currently in charge at Europa League holders Shakhtar Donetsk.

Serbia coach Radomir Antic has extended his contract until 2012, to lead the national team to the 2012 European championships. Antic who once coached Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Barcelona, steered Serbia to next year's World Cup finals in South Africa for their first major tournament as an independent nation. Serbia were drawn in Group D with 2006 semi-finalists Germany, Australia and Ghana, who are coached by their compatriot Milovan Rajevac.

The Spanish football federation says Vicente del Bosque will coach Spain through 2012 after agreeing to a two-year contract extension. The 59-year-old replaced Luis Aragones after Spain's European Championship triumph in June last year and clinched the team's spot in next year's World Cup. Spain have won 21 of the 22 games under Del Bosque and they are one of the favorites for next year's finals in South Africa.

Radomir Antic has extended his contract to coach Serbia through the qualifying campaign for the European championship. The Serbian Football Federation says it will extend Antic's contract further if the team qualifies for Euro 2012. Antic took over the team in August 2008, and helped the team win its World Cup qualifying group.

Germany coach Joachim Loew has agreed to stay on until 2012 and guide the team through the EURO 2012 qualifying campaign. The 49-year-old, who had a contract until after the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, reached a verbal agreement with the German Football Association. Loew, who took over from Juergen Klinsmann after the 2006 World Cup in Germany, steered his team to the EURO 2008 final where they lost to Spain. Germany also qualified top of their group for next year's World Cup finals in South Africa.

Miroslav "Ciro" Blazevic quit as Bosnia-Herzegovina national coach, a monthy after just failing to lead the side to the World Cup. The former Croatia boss did an impressive job for Bosnia, finishing second to Spain in Group five. However, the 74-year-old has decided to step down after seeing his side miss out on the 2010 finals in South Africa by losing to Portugal in the play-offs. Bosnian media reported that Blazevic has been offered a lucrative contract by Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua.