Steven Gerrard's first public act as England captain was to warn his team-mates that loose tongues and reckless tackles could wreck their dream of World Cup glory.

Gerrard is acutely aware of the damage that red cards have done to previous England campaigns and he used his first press conference since taking over as skipper from the injured Rio Ferdinand to stress to Wayne Rooney and co. of the importance of keeping 11 men on the pitch.

Rooney, who was sent off in England's quarter-final defeat by Portugal in 2006, reminded the world of his tendency to get into trouble with match officials earlier this week, when a volley of abuse directed at the referee earned him a booking in a warm-up match against local club Platinum Stars.

England's opponents in group C will inevitably seek to test the Manchester United striker's temper and Carlos Simon, the Brazilian referee who will take charge of Saturday's match against the United States, has been swotting up on English swear words.

But Gerrard is confident that the England players will keep their thoughts on any decisions to themselves.

"You don't swear at them, do you?" Gerrard said. "That's the answer to that. In this day and age I think it's important to show the referees some respect. You don't use any language because then you'll be booked and the whole team suffers. You don't want to fall into that trap."

Gerrard also played down concerns over Rooney's temperament. "I'm not sure whether Wayne will be targeted, we'll wait and see," Gerrard said. "But he is experienced enough now to deal with it if he is.

"He understands we need him on the pitch, he's a very important player, and every player has been warned by the manager and coaching staff to channel their frustration in the right way and not get involved with the referees or with any silly challenges.

"We've had experience of losing big players at important times and we need to keep everyone on the pitch.

"I think Wayne understands. He is a fantastic player and we don't want to take any fire away from him."

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