Peter Crouch

Peter James Crouch (born 30 January 1981 in Macclesfield, Cheshire) is an England international football (soccer) player. He currently plays for the English club Liverpool F.C. as a striker. His height of 2.01 m / 6 ft 7 in makes him the tallest man ever to play for either Liverpool or the England national football team, as well as the tallest player currently in the Premier League. He is also known for his Robot (dance) goal celebration, performed after scoring for England in the pre-FIFA World Cup friendly matches in the spring of 2006. In the wake of his robotic dancing, The Guardian newspaper described Crouch as "fast building a reputation as a cult following".

Club career

Early life

Although born in Macclesfield, Cheshire, Crouch's family soon moved south to London. When Crouch was four, the family moved again, this time to Singapore, although they stayed there for only a year before returning to London. A keen footballer from an early age, he became a ballboy at the age of ten. As a child, he attended some Chelsea F.C. games with his father. Later, he told the Liverpool official website that despite this, he and his friends at the time were fans of Queens Park Rangers.

After attending Drayton Manor High School in Hanwell, Crouch signed a professional contract with Tottenham Hotspur F.C. on July 2 1998, after having played for their youth side. However, he did not make any appearances for their first team and was loaned out to other clubs, having brief spells at Dulwich Hamlet F.C. in the Isthmian League and, in the summer of 2000, IFK Hässleholm in Sweden.

QPR & Portsmouth

On July 28 2000 Tottenham sold Crouch to Queens Park Rangers F.C. (QPR) for £60,000. Early in his Liverpool career the supporters composed a new chant; "He's big, he's red, his feet stick out the bed, Peter Crouch, Peter Crouch."

The drought finally ended on 3 December 2005 when he scored against Wigan Athletic F.C.. Although this first goal was originally given as an own goal, it was later awarded to Crouch on appeal; he went on to score a second goal in the same game. Prior to these goals, Crouch had played over 24 hours of football for Liverpool without scoring. In addition to this, he also had to deal with unpleasant taunts from crowds at matches, as he had throughout his footballing career, who often chanted "freak" at him due to his unusual height.

He went on to score several more goals that season, including the only goal in the fifth round of the FA Cup (2005–06) against Manchester United F.C., Liverpool's first victory over them in the FA Cup post-World War II. On 13 May he helped Liverpool to win the 2006 FA Cup final against West Ham United F.C., providing a crucial assist for Steven Gerrard to score the second Liverpool goal.

Three months later, in the curtain-raiser to the 2006–07 season, he headed the winning goal for Liverpool in the club's 2–1 victory over Chelsea F.C. in the FA Community Shield. In their 2006/07 UEFA Champions League campaign he scored his first goals in European club competition. On January 13 2007 he scored two goals in an away game against Watford Football Club, the first time he had scored twice in an away league game for Liverpool. Crouch sustained a broken nose when playing against Sheffield United F.C. in February 2007. Although he played in some subsequent games, on March 9 2007 it was announced that he would undergo surgery on the injury which would keep him out of football for a month. On 31st March 2007 he returned to action after the operation and scored the first hat-trick of his club career, against Arsenal F.C. in a 4-1 Liverpool victory. This was also a so-called "Perfect Hat-Trick", consisting of goals scored from his right foot, left foot and head.

He later participated in the 2007 UEFA Champions League Final, coming on as a substitute for Javier Mascherano. He ended the 2006-07 season as Liverpool's top goalscorer in all competitions, with 18 Goals. At the start of the 2007-08 season he has had restricted opportunities to play for Liverpool due to the arrival of other strikers, but scored against Toulouse FC in a Champions League qualifying win in August, his eighth goal in his past ten appearances in that competition.

International career

Youth international

Crouch was capped for the England Under-20 team at the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship, with team-mates including Stuart Taylor (footballer born 1980), Ashley Cole, Andrew Johnson (English footballer) and Matthew Etherington. However, the team finished bottom at the group stage, with three losses and having scored no goals. He was later a part of David Platt's England national under-21 football team, which went to the finals of the 2002 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship in Switzerland in May 2002, where he scored once.

Breakthrough into senior team

In May 2005, he was handed his first call-up to the senior England national football team squad by manager Sven-Göran Eriksson for the team's tour of the United States, making his debut against Colombia national football team. He went on to make two appearances during the 2006 FIFA World Cup Football World Cup 2006 (qualification UEFA) for England: starting against Austria national football team in a 1–0 victory and coming on as a substitute against Poland national football team in a 2–1 win. In the latter appearance, Crouch's introduction as a second-half substitute was booed by England's own supporters.

On 1 March 2006 he scored his first goal for England, the equaliser in a 2–1 friendly win over Uruguay national football team. He did this whilst bizarrely wearing two different squad numbers on his shirt — 21 on the front (his designated squad number for the match), and the incorrect 12 on the back.

In May 2006, Crouch was included in the 23 man England squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, and was expected to be a significant figure in the team due to Wayne Rooney's foot injury. On the 30th May 2006 he played in a pre-FIFA World Cup friendly against Hungary national football team, scoring the third goal in England's 3–1 win. He followed his goal with an unusual robot (dance)-style goal celebration — see Peter Crouch Robotic dancing. On 3 June he again played for England in a pre-FIFA World Cup friendly against Jamaica national football team, scoring a hat-trick. Between his second and third goals he took a penalty kick hoping to gain a hat-trick, but he put the ball over the bar. England went on to win 6–0, Crouch securing his hat-trick in the 89th minute with a fine finish — his fifth goal in three England games.

World Cup 2006

After his displays in England's friendlies, Crouch partnered Michael Owen in attack for England's opening 2006 FIFA World Cup game against Paraguay national football team on June 10 2006. England won the game 1-0 and Crouch kept his place in the starting line-up for the following match against Trinidad and Tobago national football team, against whom he scored his first competitive international goal. The goal provoked some controversy as replays showed Crouch to be pulling on Brent Sancho's long hair, holding the defender down, to gain an advantage.

Crouch was rested for England's third group game against Sweden national football team as Rooney returned from injury to join the starting line-up. However, Michael Owen suffered an injury in the opening minute of the game and Crouch replaced him, playing the remainder of the match.

In England's 1-0 second round victory against Ecuador national football team, Crouch remained an unused substitute as Eriksson switched the team to a new formation with Wayne Rooney as a lone striker. However, after Rooney's dismissal for a foul in England's quarter-final against Portugal national football team, Crouch came on as a substitute for Joe Cole. He could not turn the game in England's favour though, and the team lost 3-1 on penalties after a 0-0 draw.

The year after the tournament, retired English referee Graham Poll claimed that FIFA had specifically warned referees at the event to pay close attention to Crouch, claiming that "he's a real pain and he's getting away with too much."

Euro 2008 qualifying

Crouch remained a part of the England set-up under Eriksson's successor as manager, Steve McClaren, and started McClaren's first game in charge, a friendly against Greece national football team in August 2006. He scored twice in England's 4-0 victory. Two further goals followed in England's next match, a 5-0 win over Andorra national football team in their opening qualifying match for the 2008 UEFA European Football Championship on September 2 2006. These goals made Crouch the first player ever to reach ten goals for England within a single calendar year.

He added a further goal to his tally with the winner in England's 1–0 qualifying victory away to Macedonia national football team on September 6. An operation needed for a nose injury he sustained playing for Liverpool prevented him from playing in England's two qualifying matches in March 2007. He returned to the England squad for their games against Brazil national football team and Estonia national football team in late May and early June 2007, scoring in the qualifying game against the latter.

Miscellaneous information

Nicknames

Although generally known as "Crouchy", other nicknames he has been given by fans and the media in England have included "RoboCrouch" and "Crouchinho" (a parody of Ronaldinho), despite "Crouchinho" translating from Portuguese language as "little Crouch". He has been also referred to as "Mr. Roboto" by Univision's commentators and as "Pantera Rosa" ("The Pink Panther (character)") by Fox Sports en Español commentators. According to ITV4 show World Cuppa, he is also called "El Esparagus". During Liverpool's victory over Bordeaux in 2006, ITV commentator Peter Drury described him as being: "...like some rampaging super-spider!"

Robotic dancing

In the summer of 2006, Crouch briefly became particularly celebrated in the English media for his unusual Robot (dance) goal celebration. A parody of a dance he had been seen performing on a television programme covering a party held at England team-mate David Beckham's house, he first performed it after his goal for England against Hungary on May 30. Two days after the match, Crouch repeated the dance at the request of Prince William of Wales during an England training session attended by the Prince. He again performed the dance, at the prompting of his team-mates, after both of his first two goals against Jamaica on June 3. The dance was briefly a celebrated pop culture event, garnering much media coverage. The Daily Mirror newspaper claimed that the dance was inspired by the lyrics to the Arctic Monkey hit single (music) "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor".

On Monday 12 June, Crouch announced he would only perform his robotic dance again if England were to win the World Cup, saying "It's not about robotic dancing. It is about scoring goals and winning matches. It's an important time for everyone now". In September 2006, he was quoted in The Observer newspaper as saying that: "It was funny at the time, but I didn't want to carry on doing it until it became unfunny. I've stopped doing it for the time being, but if I ever score a really big goal you never know."

On August 6 2007 Crouch insisted that he would never use the Robot dance again unless he scored in the UEFA Champions League Final.