Peter Crouch Biography
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.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.
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.
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 2006/07 UEFA Champions League campaign he scored his first goals in European club competition.
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.
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. 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.