Crouch salutes Beckham

Striker hails return of former skipper

By Rob Parrish   Last updated: 21st August 2007

Beckham Crouch

Crouch (r) celebrates with Beckham

He's still probably the best player in the the world at crossing the ball. For me personally, it's fantastic to get into the box and if I find a bit of space, invariably he will find my head

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Peter Crouch believes the return of David Beckham to the England squad can only help him improve on his impressive international goalscoring record.

Beckham, dropped by Steve McClaren in the wake of the 2006 World Cup, was recalled for the Wembley friendly with Brazil in June.

He then provided the pin-point cross from which Crouch headed home England's second goal against Estonia in their 3-0 Euro 2008 qualification victory - the Liverpool striker's 12th goal in 19 appearances.

Now the duo could be in tandem again when McClaren's injury-hit squad take on Germany in Wednesday's Wembley friendly.

Fantastic

In an interview with ZOO magazine, Crouch said: "Becks is fantastic for me. As soon as I heard of his recall, I was pleased because I know he's got fantastic delivery.

"He's still probably the best player in the the world at crossing the ball. For me personally, it's fantastic to get into the box and if I find a bit of space, invariably he will find my head.

"When he gets half a yard, we know when and how he's going to try and cross it and that's why myself, Michael (Owen) or the other strikers are able to get into the box and benefit from it."

And despite Beckham facing a round trip of over 10,000 miles for every England international, Crouch is keen for the former captain to remain part of McClaren's plans.

He added: "I want him to carry on playing for England. If he keeps on playing like he did against Estonia and keeps on creating goals for me, I'm all for it."

Crouch will be suspended for the home clash with Israel on September 8th after collecting his second booking of the qualifying campaign against Estonia, but will be available for the game against Russia four days later.

Read the full article in ZOO magazine, out now.