Liam Payne hopes he has 'big enough personality' to take on Soccer Aid England captaincy

Liam Payne has spoken out about his role as the captain of the England team in Soccer Aid, saying that he is concerned about following in his One Direction bandmates’ footsteps.

The star, 28, revealed that he’s worried he’s got a ‘lot to live up to’, after his bandmate Niall Horan, 28, faced off against his other co-star Louis Tomlinson, 30, at the 2016 tournament, before returning to play in the 2019 match.

The match between England and Soccer Aid World XI will feature a variety of famous faces including debuts from Alex Brooker, Lucien Laviscount and Arsene Wenger.

Former One Direction singer Liam will captain England, while Usain Bolt captains the Soccer Aid World XI team.

Liam, 28, told the PA news agency: ‘I hope I’m a big enough personality to be able to pull it off because the football is not going to be able to help me.

‘It’s a fun, fun game and its actually my debut, a lot of my bandmates have already played so I feel like I’ve got quite a lot to live up to.

‘I wouldn’t say I was the worst footballer in the band, but I wasn’t far off.’

Liam said he is ‘scared and excited’ about the match on June 12 and hopes he is ‘worthy’ of the captain’s armband.

He added that he’s ‘watched a lot of football games over the years’ and that often when he’s watching the games, it went through his mind that he could do what the players were doing, adding: ‘for me it’s a little bit of a chance to cosplay in a way and be part of it’.

The star also revealed that he’s been ‘training too hard’ and that he’s ‘really excited’ to take part.

‘So I’ve really put my heart and soul into it. I’m hoping by the time we come around to it, I’ll be worthy of that armband,’ he said.

Martin Compston, Mo Gilligan, Harry Redknapp, Gary Neville, Fara