Captain Steven Gerrard and coach Fabio Capello have warned England's players to keep their calm in their World Cup opener against the United States.

There were reports that the Brazilian officials taking charge of Saturday's game had learnt English obscenities in order to clamp down on abuse.

Fifa has since denied a list of English swear words had been distributed.

And Gerrard said: "We don't want to lose players because of discipline, it weakens the team, we can't afford it."

Wayne Rooney received a yellow card for dissent in England's 3-0 win over Platinum Stars in a warm-up match on Monday and the South African referee Jeff Selogilwe later claimed the striker had insulted him and could have been sent off.

Gerrard revealed manager Capello has warned the players about their behaviour towards officials but admitted discipline is something the players should all be able to control.

"Every player has been warned by the manager and coaching staff how important it is to channel your frustrations in the right way and not get involved," Gerrard explained.

"You have to show the officials respect these days more than ever and we all know that."

The United States players and management say they will not set out to "wind-up" Rooney during the two side's World Cup opener.

But the outburst by the Manchester United man, who was sent off in the World Cup quarter-final against Portugal four years ago, has again raised questions about his temperament.

Gerrard said: "Wayne understands, as we all do, that discipline has to be tight and you have to respect referees.

"Wayne is a fantastic player and we don't want to take that fire away from him, that edge, obviously. It's part of what makes him such a top player - he just has to make sure he controls it in the right way. I'm sure he will."

606: DEBATE We have got used to allowing big name players to swear at referees but the rest of the football world will not hand out any special treatment jinius12

Referee Carlos Simon and his two assistants, Altemir Hausmann and Roberto Braatz will take charge of the World Cup match between England and the US, the two English-speaking nations, at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg.

Hausmann told Brazilian broadcaster Globo Sport: "We have to learn what kind of words the players say. All players swear and we know we will hear a few."

And his fellow assistant Braatz added: "We can't do this in 11 different languages but at least we have to know the swear words in English."

A statement from world football's governing body Fifa said: "No such list has been distributed to the referees."

And former referee Pierluigi Collina, who officiated the 2002 World Cup final, added his opinion saying he does not believe that learning swear words will be a priority for referees at the finals.

"I think I can speak because I have a wide enough experience in big tournaments like the World Cup, Euros and in club competition like Champions League - No referee is interested in knowing these things," Collina told Sky News.

"When we speak about preparation, for referees preparation doesn't mean to know words in other languages.

"It's very important to speak, because you can clarify things and have a better relation on the pitch, but I'm not interested in knowing swearing words in other languages."

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