Crouch to consider England future
Peter Crouch has decided against international retirement, but will consider his future following his omission from Fabio Capello's matchday squad for England’s Euro 2012 qualifier against Switzerland at Wembley.
With Darren Bent leading the line, Capello favoured Bobby Zamora over the Tottenham Hotspur striker for a spot on the substitutes' bench, despite Crouch's international record of 22 goals in 42 games.
GEAR:Save money on Crouch shirtswith Kitbag. Free delivery on orders over £50
The snub left the Spurs front-man contemplating his future under Capello, but was clear that he would not make a snap decision.
“I was disappointed, of course,” he told Sky Sports at the launch of The FA Mars Just Play initiative in London. "I will have to think about things over the summer. I don't want to make any stupid decisions.
"It is still fresh in my mind and I don't want to rush into anything silly.”
Crouch has not enjoyed his most productive season, finding the net on only four occasions in 34 league appearances, despite a healthy return of four goals in the Champions League in nine games.
With much to contemplate in the close-season, Crouch is looking forward to putting football on the back-burner.
Get FourFourTwo Newsletter
The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.
"I have got the summer now, I can take a break, get away from football for a bit and see how I feel about things in pre-season," he said.
The FA and MARS Just Play scheme aims to get a 150,000 new participants playing the game for at least 30 minutes a week by September 2013.
Gregg Davies is the Chief Sub Editor of FourFourTwo magazine, joining the team in January 2008 and spending seven years working on the website. He supports non-league behemoths Hereford and commentates on Bulls matches for Radio Hereford FC. His passions include chocolate hobnobs and attempting to shoehorn Ronnie Radford into any office conversation.
‘This is the hardest Manchester derby to call in years – Manchester United shouldn’t be petrified, it feels like Manchester City aren’t in control of any game at the moment’ Former Red Devils striker thinks a surprise result could be possible
‘Thierry Henry was my hero, but when you talk about players who have a wand of a left foot, he genuinely had that. He made my life so much easier on the right’: Ex-Arsenal star omits Gunners legend from his Perfect XI