Capello warns England players about controlling frustrations in WCup games

Gerrard: Players warned by coach about discipline

RUSTENBURG, South Africa — Control yourself.

That’s the warning England’s players received from coach Fabio Capello heading into the World Cup, captain Steven Gerrard said Thursday.

The need for discipline in Saturday’s opening match against the United States was highlighted Monday when striker Wayne Rooney got a yellow card in a training game after swearing at the referee.

The Brazilian referee and his assistants who will take charge of the high-profile Group C opener also told Brazilian media they have been studying English-language obscenities the players might hurl at them.

“In this day and age I think it’s important to show the referees some respect,” Gerrard said. “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 …

“We’ve had experience of losing big players at important times.”

Such has four years ago on soccer’s biggest state. Rooney was ejected for stamping on a Portugal player in the World Cup quarterfinals, which Portugal won in a shootout.

“Wayne’s experienced enough now to deal with it,” Gerrard said. “Wayne 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.”

At the same time, though, Gerrard said England’s chances would suffer if the 24-year-old Rooney’s passion on the pitch was curbed.

“He is a fantastic player and we don’t want to take Wayne’s fire away from him because that’s the type of player he is, always on the edge,” Gerrard said. “That is the reason he is one of the best players in the world. Wayne himself just has to make sure he controls his frustrations in the right manner — and takes it out on the opposition and not the referees.”

U.S goalie Tim Howard, who stars for Everton in the English Premier League, appreciates the job officials do. He also knows how intense it might get on the field Saturday.

“Refereeing is an impossible job, it’s a difficult job, and emotions run high on both teams,” Howard said. “So we’ve been warned to keep our emotions in check and watch our mouths, and I’m sure we’re going to try to the best of our ability to do that. I don’t think it will go 100 percent as planned. But we have a lot of respect for the referees, so there won’t be any problem from our end.”

The English hope that is true for them as well.