England captain Steve Gerrard insists it would have been a waste if Frank Lampard had gone to America Now 35, Lampard, who made his England debut in October 1999, in a 2-1 friendly win over Belgium at Sunderland's Stadium of Light, has also interestingly had the longest career of any England outfield player to, hopefully, reach a century of caps. His career stretches to 13 years and 301 days (only Gerrard comes close), which shows his remarkable level of endurance. If, as expected, he takes the field in Kiev against Ukraine, Lampard will also became only the second centurion to have reached that landmark in a match of real significance - Shilton won his 100th cap as England were knocked out of Euro 1988 by Holland. Lampard will be the eighth England player to reach 100 caps but, remarkably, the third in this current squad behind Ashley Cole and Gerrard, of course, who are also both expected to start against Ukraine - when they will draw level with the achievement of Billy Wright, the first player to reach a century, who finished with 105 caps. Gerrard and Cole will hope to beat Beckham's mark of 115 caps for an outfield player - 10 behind Shilton's record - but that will only be achieved if England reach next summer'sWorld Cup Finals and make a decent fist of the tournament. Lampard will hope to join them. "You have seen his form at the back end of last season," Gerrard said. I would have supported his decision if he had gone to LA Galaxy but, for me, he still had so much to offer to the Premier League and for England. It would have been sad if he'd moved because he is a great player. Against Moldova on Friday evening at Wembley, with England gaining that comfortable 4-0 victory, Lampard and Gerrard started together in the midfield - a pairing that was first used in June 2003, against Serbia and Montenegro in a friendly at Leicester infamous for Sven Goran Eriksson's substitutions. It was a combination that led to a decade of debate as to whether two of the Premier League's most dominant and effective players could actually play together in the same team. The jury is out even if the abandonment of 4-4-2 has undoubtedly helped. Hodgson is the fourth England manager to tackle the issue. "A lot of people talk about me and Frank being in the same team," Gerrard said. We enjoy playing together he has been tremendous for club and country and no one deserves this [100th cap] more than him. Hopefully, I will be on the pitch when he does get that 100th cap because I have been with him all the way through. He is good friend of mine and I can't wait for him to get that cap - he certainly deserves it. He is a big player.