Peter Crouch has to prove he can muscle his way into Fabio Capello's plan

Simon Johnson
14 Oct 2009

Peter Crouch has never had any problem standing out from the crowd, yet tonight could be his last chance to prove to Fabio Capello that he deserves to be part of England's World Cup squad next year.

The six-foot seven-inch striker is set to make only his third start of the Capello era against Belarus and while England's place in next summer's tournament in South Africa has been secured, Crouch's certainly isn't.

He is only getting an opportunity because Wayne Rooney has been ruled out with a calf strain and the Tottenham forward must make sure that he takes advantage.

There is going to be a maximum of four more games after this one before Capello names the 23 players he wants to take part in the sport's biggest tournament and the Italian has given the impression that he will not be prepared to experiment much further, particularly on anyone he doesn't truly value.

It is a mystery why Crouch's World Cup hopes are in such a precarious position considering he has delivered whenever his country has come calling.

His impressive scoring record of 16 goals from 34 caps, of which only 16 were starts, would strongly suggest that he has never had any problem finding the net at this level. It compares favourably with all his rivals for a position in the England team, particularly that of Capello's favourite target man Emile Heskey, who has nine fewer despite playing 56 times.

The Italian just doesn't seem convinced by his qualities and Crouch (left) must wonder what more he can do to be given a genuine chance. On the two previous occasions he was named in the first team by the coach, he scored in the wins over Ukraine and Andorra.

In fact, he has found the net on his last five starts for his country.

He can also boast about finishing the country's leading scorer in the failed Euro 2008 qualifying campaign, which can only mean his CV is lacking in other areas. Capello's desire to have a big striker leading the line is so that Rooney can play off him and make the most of the space he creates.

To be fair to Heskey, he does this job as well as anyone in the country. Crouch is taller than the Aston Villa forward but when it comes to brawn, he is severely lacking in comparison.

His first touch and close control has never been in question but against Belarus he must somehow show he has the strength to get the better of defenders as well.

Gabriel Agbonlahor, who has netted five times in his last six games for Villa, is expected to start alongside him, while Carlton Cole should be given another opportunity to impress off the bench. The strikers can expect to have good service from the flanks with Capello looking to utilise the speed of Aaron Lennon and Shaun Wright-Phillips, so they can have no excuses. Captain John Terry certainly sees the game as key for players like Crouch to stake their case to the man in charge.

He said: "When fringe players do get their chance, it might be their one opportunity. They could be back on the bench for the next four or five games, you never know. It maybe puts them under a bit of pressure."

Crouch, 28, is no stranger to having to battle to win a coach's favour, he has been doing it throughout his professional career at club level, too. From the moment he was released by Tottenham as a youth player nine years ago, he has seemed to have to constantly fight against the odds.

Seven clubs have spent a total of over £33million to secure his services. He has usually repaid them with goals galore but somehow still ended up on the bench or just simply on his way.

Crouch scored one of the finest hat-tricks in Premier League history for Liverpool in a 4-1 victory over Arsenal two years ago. He was Liverpool's leading scorer in all competitions that season and yet was sold to Portsmouth 12 months later. Spurs spent £9m on him in the summer but manager Harry Redknapp has given him just two starts in the League so far. He has taken the situation in good spirit and has not moaned about playing second fiddle to Jermain Defoe and Robbie Keane.

But maybe therein lies the problem - he is just too nice and Capello wants to see the opposite. Crouch once said: "I'm different from a lot of the guys in that I've had such an up-and-down career. I think that's probably something that people can identify with."

Unfortunately, unless he delivers a fine all-round performance, Capello looks like not being one of them.