Swedish referee Jonas Eriksson is to take charge of the United States' World Cup opener against Ghana in Natal on Monday.
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Eriksson rose to prominence earlier this year when his integrity was questioned by Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini after he sent off Martin Demichelis for fouling Barcelona's Lionel Messi in the Champions League. Pellegrini later apologised and was given a two-match touchline ban by UEFA.
Eriksson is a full-time referee who took charge of two matches at the 2012 European Championship but has yet to take charge of a World Cup clash.
"The World Cup is new to me," he told Upsala Nya Tidning prior to the tournament. "It's a dream just to come here."
He said he had no "dream matches" in mind but would prefer to take charge of a game between teams that played good football and showed respect towards the officials. He added that he hoped to use the tournament as a chance to show the quality of referees of his home country.
FIFA also announced that the Group G game between Germany and Portugal would be refereed by Milorad Mazic of Serbia, while the Group F meeting between Nigeria and Iran will be handled by Carlos Vera of Ecuador.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.