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Peter Crouch

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Peter Crouch
File:Peter Crouch.jpg
Personal information
Full name Peter James Crouch
Height 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Position(s) Striker
Team information
Current team
 Liverpool
Number 15
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 11 October 2006

Peter James Crouch (born January 30 1981 in Macclesfield, Cheshire) is an English international football player, known affectionately as "Crouchy" to many fans. He currently plays for the English club Liverpool 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 team, as well as the tallest outfield player currently in the Premiership. Crouch is also known for his robotic dancing goal celebration, performed after scoring for England in the pre-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 hero".[1]

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.[2]

After attending Drayton Manor High School in Hanwell, Crouch signed a professional contract with Tottenham Hotspur on July 2 1998, after having played for their youth side.[3] However, he did not make any appearances for their first team and was loaned out to other clubs, having brief spells at Dulwich Hamlet in the Isthmian League and, in the summer of 2000, IFK Hässleholm in Sweden.[4]

QPR & Portsmouth

On July 28 2000 Tottenham sold Crouch to Queens Park Rangers (QPR) for £60,000.[3] He made an immediate impression with QPR, scoring ten league goals in the 2000–01 season, but it was not enough to prevent the team's relegation to Division 2 (now Football League One).

Relegation meant that QPR had to sell many of their best players to support their diminished finances, and Portsmouth bought Crouch from them for £1.25 million. Crouch scored 18 league goals in only 37 starts for Portsmouth — benefiting from the crossing of Robert Prosinečki — and that in a side that for much of the season looked destined to be in a relegation battle.

Aston Villa

In March 2002, FA Premier League side Aston Villa made a successful £5 million bid for Crouch. He scored on his home debut for Villa, the equalising goal against Newcastle United, and managed to net twice in seven games. However, Crouch failed to hold down a regular place in the Aston Villa side in the following 2002–03 season.

Looking for first team football, he was loaned to Norwich City from September to December 2003. Although he scored only four times in 15 appearances, he was highly impressive and remains to this day popular with Norwich City supporters. So popular, in fact, he had a song made up about him (he's tall, he's lean, he's a freaky goal machine).[citation needed] Crouch was sent off for retaliation during Norwich's 3–1 win at Walsall, but nonetheless his spell at Norwich renewed interest in his abilities from other clubs. At the end of the three-month loan he returned to Aston Villa, and scored a brace against Leicester City, a late winner at Middlesbrough and the opener at Bolton. Norwich City recognised his contribution to the 2003–04 season that saw them win the First Division Championship by awarding him a championship medal. He was presented with the medal on the pitch prior to City's match against his new club Southampton FC at Carrow Road in November 2004. When he came on as substitute for Southampton later that afternoon, he received a very good reception from the home crowd.

Villa sold Crouch in July 2004 to Southampton for a fee of £2 million. Crouch signed a four-year deal with Southampton. He scored just six goals in 37 Premiership games for Aston Villa.

Southampton

He made his Southampton debut in a 2–0 defeat at his previous club, Villa, and later scored a controversial winning penalty against another former club, Portsmouth, on January 29 2005 in the fourth round of the FA Cup.

Despite scoring 16 goals in 33 appearances during the 2004–05 season, his future was cast into doubt when Southampton were relegated from the English Premiership. On July 19 2005, Southampton agreed to sell Crouch for £7 million to Liverpool, on a four-year contract.

Liverpool

Crouch underwent intense media scrutiny due to a goal drought during his first months at Liverpool. For 19 games, spanning four months, he was unable to score. Crouch was praised for other facets of his game, such as his touch on the ball, but his first goal for the club evaded him. The fact that Crouch possessed "good touch for a big man" in fact became something of a media cliché during this time.[5]

The drought finally ended on 3 December 2005 when he scored against Wigan Athletic. 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.[6]

During Liverpool's trip to Japan for the Club World Championship in December 2005, Crouch added another two goals to his tally in the semi-final between Liverpool and Deportivo Saprissa, with an impressive volley and a well-composed finish under pressure from a defender. On 28 December 2005, his record for Liverpool stood at five goals, including three league goals, after a composed finish against Liverpool's derby rivals Everton. He added yet another goal to his tally on the last day of 2005 with a superb header which gave the West Bromwich keeper Tomasz Kuszczak no chance. He also scored the only goal in the fifth round of the FA Cup (2005–06) against Manchester United, Liverpool's first victory over them in the FA Cup post-World War II and added another brace during Liverpool's 7–0 thrashing of Birmingham City on 21 March 2006.

On 13 May he helped Liverpool to win the 2006 FA Cup final against West Ham, 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 in the FA Community Shield. In their UEFA Champions League campaign he scored his first goals in European club 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, Ashley Cole, Andy Johnson 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 Under-21 team, which went to the European Under–21 Championships 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 squad by manager Sven-Göran Eriksson for the team's tour of the United States, making his debut against Colombia. He went on to make two appearances during the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign for England: starting against Austria in a 1–0 victory and coming on as a substitute against Poland in a 2–1 win. In the latter appearance, Crouch's introduction as a second-half substitute was booed by England's own supporters, although he went on to be instrumental in Frank Lampard's winner.

On 1 March 2006 he scored his first England goal, the equaliser in a 2–1 friendly win over Uruguay. 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-World Cup friendly against Hungary, scoring the third goal in England's 3–1 win. He followed his goal with an unusual robotic dancing-style goal celebration — see below. On 3 June he again played for England in a pre-World Cup friendly against Jamaica, 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 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, 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.[7]

Crouch was rested for England's third group game against Sweden 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, 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, 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.

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 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 in their opening qualifying match for the 2008 European Championships on September 2 2006. These goals made Crouch the first player ever to reach ten goals for England within a single calendar year.[8] This feat, along with his dancing antics and emerging cult hero status, has seen him emerge as an early contender for the 2006 BBC Sports Personality of the Year award. This comes just a year after rival Everton fans launched an ironic internet campaign for him to win the same award, in an attempt to ridicule him for a disappointing start to his Liverpool career.[9]

He added a further goal to his tally with the winner in England's 1–0 qualifying victory away to Macedonia on September 6.

Trivia

Nicknames

As well 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 as "little Crouch". His Spanish nickname is "La Jirafa", meaning "The Giraffe". He has been also referred to as "Mr. Roboto" by Univision's commentators and as "Pantera Rosa" (Pink Panther) by Fox Sports en Español commentators. According to ITV4 show World Cuppa, he is also called "El Esparagus". After his goal in England's 2-0 World Cup victory against Trinidad and Tobago, German newspapers proclaimed that England had been "saved by the goalpost", a reference to Crouch's pole-like physique.

The unliked "Freak" nickname however is one that seems to stick. In an interview for The Sun newspaper, he claimed it all started at Gillingham Football Club when playing for QPR. He said that was the worst he'd ever had to deal with while on a football pitch.[citation needed]

File:TheCrouch.gif
"The Crouch" dance

Robotic dancing

In the summer of 2006, Crouch briefly became particularly celebrated in the English media for his unusual robotic dancing 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 during an England training session attended by the Prince.[10] 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.[11] [12]

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".[13] 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."[14]

Statistics

Club Performance
Club Season Premiership FA Cup League Cup Europe Others Total
App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals
Liverpool 2006-07 5 1 0 0 0 0 3 3 1 1 9 5
2005-06 32 8 6 3 1 0 8 0 2 2 49 13
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Europe Others Total
Southampton 2004-05 27 12 5 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 33 16
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Europe Others Total
Norwich City (Loan) 2003-04 15 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 4
Club Season Premiership FA Cup League Cup Europe Others Total
Aston Villa 2003-04 16 4 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 18 4
2002-03 14 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 18 0
2001-02 7 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 2
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Europe Others Total
Portsmouth 2001-02 37 18 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 39 19
Queens Park Rangers 2000-01 42 10 3 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 47 12
Total 195 59 15 9 7 1 15 3 3 3 235 75

Career Honours

England Norwich City

Winner

England Liverpool

Winner

Runner-up:

References and notes

  1. ^ "Crouch plays his way into starting line-up". The Guardian. 2006-06-03. Retrieved 2006-06-04. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ Duffy, Michael (2006-06-04). "My Pete's No Freak". Sunday Mirror. Retrieved 2006-06-04. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ a b "Peter Crouch Profile". England Football Online. 2006-09-03. Retrieved 2006-09-05. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ Walker, Michael (2006-06-17). "Mellberg says Crouch is biggest threat". The Guardian. Retrieved 2006-06-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ Glendenning, Barry (2005-10-10). "The Crouch-a-saurus". The Guardian. Retrieved 2006-06-04. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ Taylor, Daniel (2006-05-25). "Crouch rises above the jibes to feel at home among the elite". The Guardian. Retrieved 2006-06-04. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ Stewart, Colin (2006-06-17). "Sancho angry as TV shows Crouch pulled hair to climb". The Scotsman. Retrieved 2006-06-17. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ Smyth, Rob (2006-09-04). "Passive Boozing; and Wild-Tackling Scouser". Guardian Unlimited. Retrieved 2006-09-04. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ "Crouch award bid peters out". 2005-12-05. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ^ "William attends England training". BBC News Online. 2006-06-01. Retrieved 2006-06-01. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ "'The Crouch' sweeps the nation". Metro. 2006-06-01. Retrieved 2006-06-01. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. ^ Lipton, Martin (2006-06-02). "World Cup Willie". The Daily Mirror. Retrieved 2006-06-02. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthor= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ "Crouch halts robotic celebrations". BBC. 2006-06-12. Retrieved 2006-06-13. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. ^ Wilson, Paul (2006-09-03). "Confident Crouch happy to be plan B". The Observer. Retrieved 2006-09-03. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)


Preceded by Portsmouth F.C. Fans' Player of the Year
2001-2002 		Succeeded by


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