A few of Aston Villa men have been named team captain at the FIFA World Cup.
Several Aston Villa players have been selected as team captain throughout FIFA World Cup history, including in this year’s edition. In North America, two players are currently captaining their national teams, Victor Lindelof and Youri Tielemans. Interestingly, Villa’s own captain, John McGinn, is not the skipper of Scotland. He serves only as the vice-captain.
They have a huge responsibility ahead as they lead their teams on the pitch in a bid to secure victory in the final group game and progress to the knockout stage. Neither Sweden nor Belgium have yet sealed a place in the Round of 32 at the World Cup.
Throughout the tournament’s history, Lindelof and Tielemans are not the only Villans to wear the captain’s armband. There have been several others who have enjoyed such distinguished honours on football’s biggest stage.
Townsend was also Aston Villa’s skipper from 1995 until the end of his spell at the club. He was the last Villa captain to lift a trophy before John McGinn, when The West Midlands side won the EFL League Cup in 1996.
The former Chelsea man also captained the Republic of Ireland at the 1994 FIFA World Cup. He featured in all four games during the tournament. USA 1994 was actually his second World Cup. The first was Italy 1990, although the former midfielder had not yet been appointed captain at that time, despite featuring in all five games for The Boys in Green.
The former midfielder was named team captain in September 1992 and continued wearing the armband until his retirement from international football in 1997. Townsend made 70 appearances for Ireland, scoring seven goals and providing three assists.
The former centre-back was Villa’s captain from 2003 to 2006. Mellberg is one of the few Villans to have appeared in two World Cup editions. He was a key figure in Sweden’s defence during the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Japan and South Korea and the 2006 World Cup in Germany. However, the former Juventus and Villarreal man was only named captain in the latter tournament.
Mellberg featured in all four games at the 2006 World Cup as Sweden reached the Round of 16. He served as Sweden captain from September 2002 until the summer of 2006. Overall, he earned 117 caps for Blågult, registering eight goals and three assists.
Unlike the previous two, Jedinak was not Villa’s captain during his stint at Villa Park. However, he was one of the Aston Villa men who featured at the World Cup while The Lions were still competing in the Championship.
Jedinak was part of Australia’s squad at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, where he captained the Socceroos while playing for Aston Villa. The former defensive midfielder featured in all three games and scored twice from the penalty spot.
The former Crystal Palace man served as Australia captain from 2014 to 2018. Throughout his international career, he made 79 appearances, including playing in three World Cup editions from 2010 to 2018, contributing 20 goals and one assist.
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