Peter Crouch in action, photo by Phil Chambers

Although he has been described as gangly and ungainly, he has silenced his critics with two outstanding performances in recent pre-World Cup ‘friendlies’ against Hungary and Jamaica.

He opened his account with a fantastic goal against Hungary in the 84th minute of the match. However, if the goal was spectacular, the celebration was even more remarkable. Crouch ran to the touchline and began to dance ‘robotics’, apparently parodying the dance moves with which he had impressed the rest of the team at David and Victoria Beckham’s pre-World Cup party.

“The Crouch”, as the dance has come to be known, was seen again during England’s 6-0 victory over Jamaica when the lanky striker scored a hat-trick. He might easily have scored a fourth but missed a penalty.

Despite the missed penalty, Crouch has earned his boss’s approval and won a place in the starting line-up for England’s first World Cup game against Paraguay.

“Peter had a fantastic game. He had almost everything in the air and scored goals. I think he will start next Saturday. He deserves it”, said Sven Goran Eriksson, the England head coach.

English hopes have also been raised by the return to training of Wayne Rooney. The 20 year-old Manchester United star has been out of action since fracturing a bone in his foot in May. He has received intensive medical attention including sleeping in an oxygen chamber to help the injury to heal.

England fans are praying that he will come off the bench to join the rest of the team in winning the World Cup for England.

GLOSSARY 词汇表

stick out the bed (因个高)双脚支出床外
no wonder 一点也不奇怪

national squad 国家队 gangly 瘦长难看的

ungainly 笨拙的
silenced his critics 使批评者哑口无言
touchline 边线 robotics (像)机器人(一样跳舞)
parodying 模仿(以)取笑
lanky (人体)瘦高的
hat_trick 同一人连进三球
starting line_up 首发阵容

head coach 主教练
out of action 无法参赛

fracturing a bone 骨裂;骨折
heal 愈合; 康复
oxygen chamber 氧气间

come off the bench
作为替补队员上场参赛