Gerrard calls for cool heads from Rooney and co.

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 refeee 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.

“He always plays on the edge but Wayne has to control his emotions and take it out on opposition teams rather than referees.

“The manager stresses the importance of always having 11 men on the pitch and this tournament is going to be difficult enough so if we lose someone it will only complicate things further.”

Gerrard was named as captain for Fabio Capello’s first match in charge in what was seen at the time as an indication that the Italian regarded the midfielder as England’s natural leader.

The head coach though was reportedly surprised by Gerrard’s relatively introverted nature and quickly reverted however to the more voluble John Terry, who was replaced by Ferdinand in February following revelations about the Chelsea defender’s private life.

The injury Ferdinand suffered last week has delivered the armband back to Gerrard and, while honoured to have the chance of leading his country into the World Cup, he confessed to mixed emotions.

“I’m honoured to be leading the lads out but I was sick in the stomach for Rio,” Gerrard said. “He is a superb player, a massive player for us and it’s deeply disappointing that he will not be available, but it’s now my responsibility to lead the boys out.

“It’s a massive responsibility and I’m looking forward to it.”

He admits he is not a shouter in the Terry mould, instead preferring to lead by example as he does for Liverpool.

“I think I am in this position as managers see that I am a good captain, they like the way I do things on the pitch,” he said. “I think I have the respect of the players on the pitch.”