| Peter Crouch is to put his 'robot dance' celebrations on ice during the World Cup - although he may change his mind if England lift the trophy.
Crouch has become a cult hero with England fans after marking his recent flood of goals with his zany dance - a stark contrast to the boos he endured from supporters in the early stages of his international career.
But he admits he got carried away by self-confidence with his dreadful penalty miss in the final warm-up game with Jamaica at Old Trafford and earned a mild ticking off from Eriksson.
Now the Liverpool striker will focus all his thoughts on helping England try to win the tournament for the first time in 40 years with victory against Trinidad & Tobago on Thursday, which would ensure a place in the second round.
Crouch said: "The dancing was a bit of harmless fun at first that seems to have escalated a touch. It was great to score the goals - and hopefully there are a lot more to come - but on the celebration front, I am not sure I'll be doing that again!
"It is not about doing robotic dances. It is about scoring goals and winning football matches and I know that more than anyone. We are at an important time now.
"If you can enjoy yourself along the way, it is great for everyone but the most important thing is winning matches and hopefully we can do that.
"If we win the World Cup, then maybe I'll bring the dance back. You'll see the whole team and the manager doing it! But I wouldn't say you'll be seeing it for the moment. It is a serious business we are in.
"It was a bit of fun and the lads are on at me to keep it going. I want to get as many goals as I can but I am not sure about the celebrations."
As for that penalty miss against Jamaica, Crouch admitted: "Sven did mention it. He didn't have to, to be honest. I was so frustrated with myself for the way I took the penalty.
"I did get caught up in the moment and I can assure you it won't be happening again. He came up to me and I knew what he was going to say and, before he said anything, I apologised so he didn't have to say too much.
"Thankfully I managed to get the third goal, complete my hat-trick, and put that to bed."
Crouch refuses to gloat over the way he has proved the fans wrong who booed him when he came on in the World Cup qualifier against Austria at Old Trafford but he is happy to have proved his worth to the England set-up.
He said: "I didn't set out to prove anyone wrong. I set out to be the best I can be but it is nice along the way to maybe prove people wrong that didn't believe in you.
"Hopefully I can carry on doing that. I've started quite a few games and I am enjoying every minute. There is a lot of hype surrounding playing for England but I wouldn't change any of it. It is a dream."
Crouch had just made the move from Portsmouth to Aston Villa - signed by former England manager Graham Taylor - when he watched the last World Cup and was a million miles away from earning England recognition.
He said: "I would have been watching it thinking England was a long, long way away at that time but I've always had confidence in myself and my ability to play at this level.
"I'd like to think that is coming through now. If you look at a lot of the lads, they will say the same.
"Four years ago, what was Theo Walcott doing? He was probably still at school. He'd be the same as me then. He'd never be saying he'd be playing in the World Cup eventually - and yet here we both are.
"For a lot of the lads, myself, Theo, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, John Terry, it is their first World Cup and we are all as excited as anyone."
Do the dance or F**k off home stretch!!! Get bopping! |