IRENE, South Africa, (Reuters) – England manager  Fabio Capello has drilled home the message to his team that  set-pieces can be the difference between winning and losing at  the World Cup and the United States have clearly taken note.

With free-kick specialists Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard,  the always-dangerous Wayne Rooney and the aerial threat of Peter  Crouch and skipper John Terry — Capello’s team pose several  threats from dead-ball positions.

U.S goalkeeper Tim Howard, who has faced those challenges on  a regular basis in England’s Premier League, where he plays for  Everton, says it is vital his defenders limit set-piece  opportunities in the World Cup opener against England on  Saturday.

“I’m a firm believer in that you give away a certain amount  of free kicks you’ll give up a goal, without question. In modern  day football, I don’t know the statistics but I know it’s, very  high the amount of goals scored from set-pieces,” he said.

“Rest assured if we give up too many live free kicks and too  many direct free kicks around the box and corner kicks we’ll  probably get punished for it.

“So its important that we’re solid in our defending, that  we’re getting cover over and not leaving people isolated one on  one, because that’s a lot of times when fouls happen,” he told  reporters.

“And just being smart, sometimes you have to give away  corners but hopefully they won’t be needless.”

Howard also said the U.S coaching staff have been warning  their players against getting involved in dissent with match  officials during what could be a fiery encounter between two  English-speaking teams.

“Refereeing is an impossible job and emotions run high on  both teams, so we’ve been warned to keep our emotions in check  and watch our mouths.