Remembering Peter Crouch: The Robot Man Who Knew Acrobatic Goals

In 2009, a reporter asked Petr Crouch what he would do if he didn't become a soccer player. Crouch replied that he just wanted to be human.

Although it sounds simple, the phrase has many meanings. If Francesco Totti is loved for his loyalty, and Lionel Messi who is adored for his genius, then Peter Crouch only wants to be loved because he is a human being.

Peter Crouch never wanted to have many fans. He only plays football because of his passion. Among the many legendary strikers in the Premier League, the name Peter Crouch is not remembered for his sharpness. Although he is among the few strikers who have scored more than 100 goals in the Premier League, he is almost never a natural killer.

All that people remember about him is a lanky striker who was more than two meters tall, who often jogged slowly waiting for a hull ball. He also was popular for his robot celebration.

Crouch did the celebration when he scored a goal in a trial before the 2006 World Cup. He recounts the origins of this iconic celebration.

It is said, while on vacation to Miami, Florida, he met Mieckey Rourke. They then partied at the bar until four in the morning. When they party, the friend calls Crouch a male robot.

After undergoing an extraordinary career, right at the end of the 2018/19 season, Peter Crouch suddenly decided to retire from the green field. Crouch, who is very active on social media, announced the news of hanging his shoes via Twitter.

“After much deliberation this summer, I decided to retire from football. Our beautiful game has given me my all. Thank you to everyone who helped me to be here so long, "

the chirp ends with an 'X' sign hug.

As a junior, he switched academies three times. From Brentford, QPR, to receiving a professional contract at Tottenham. At this club, it looks like he will not be able to break into the first team. So he was loaned away up to the seventh division to Dulwich Hamlet, as well as across the ocean in the Swedish Third Division with IFK Hassleholm. In these clubs in the middle of nowhere, Crouch was always being teased.

"What the 30-foot hen can do?"

Hearing the taunts from his friends at that time, Crouch admitted to having cried. He felt that he didn't deserve to play football and thought what everyone was saying was right.

However, with humility, Crouch tried to be strong. As a result, it was at these clubs that he began to taste senior football. Even though his head and feet were more than 180cm apart, he began to learn how to use his feet. He himself believes that his loan spell is much more influential than just staying in the academy team.

Crouch learned a lot. At first glance his body looked frail. Alacrity prone to shake even if only blown by the wind. His face tends to be pale, showing wrinkles when he smiles too often.

Such stereotypes cling to towering players without athletic body fillings. However, Crouch is definitely not an arbitrary player. His resilience to compete at the elite level for a long time was preceded by difficult trials at the beginning of his career.

Having experienced difficult times at Tottenham, the white lily team chose to sell him to QPR. At the age of 19, he finally became a major player in Division Two. After his tally of goals reached double digits at the end of the season, rival club Portsmouth signed him. He also performed well at this club. His number of goals almost doubled, which eventually made the Premier League club call him, namely Aston Villa.

His time at Villa was indeed the most bitter among other clubs, he moved to Southampton after the season ended. Although he suffered relegation at Soton, he began to be considered as England's top striker. After Harry Redknapp arrived, he scored 12 goals in the final half of 2004/05. At the end of the season, he was proposed by Liverpool.

From here on, the journey looks a little colorful. Crouch had fasted goals in 18 matches, so it was called the purchase of a flop by a number of supporters. Other times, he scored against Galatasaray and scored a perfect hat trick against Everton. He also contributed to delivering Liverpool to the 2007 Champions League final.

At Liverpool Crouch also had time to act ridiculous.

One time, Dirk Kuyt, his colleague at Liverpool, once told me that Crouch nearly hit him in the karting arena. Kuyt is not making it up. Crouch "deliberately" was about to hit the man from the Netherlands.

“It happened just before the Champions League final (2006-07). We were all at the training camp in Portugal and went to the kart racing arena, "

“I was about to pull over to the pits and realized my brakes weren't working. I saw Xabi Alonso and Dirk Kuyt standing there, [and] knowing that I was going to hit one of them and I thought, 'Which of the two is the most valuable?' ”Said Crouch (via dailystar)

Of course at that time Alonso was one of the backbone of the Liverpool squad. Almost no player can replace his role in midfield. So in the end Crouch chose to direct his kart at Kuyt.

In the UCL 2006/07 final itself, Crouch was reserved by Rafael Benitez, where the Reds had to admit AC Milan's superiority with a score of 2-1.

Then, regarding his most iconic goals, Crouch really likes to score acrobatic goals. His tall and thin stature did not prevent him from spoiling the eyes of the supporters.

In 2006, as already mentioned, Crouch managed to break into Galatasaray's goal in the Champions League competition. He broke into the Turkish club's goal with a scissor kick.

Was that goal a coincidence? Certainly not. Crouch has also done this with Portsmouth, when he met Stoke City in the 2008/09 season.

Yes, after leaving Anfield, no one said Crouch failed at Liverpool. But after Fernando Torres arrived, he realized his time was up. Portsmouth was also the place to go home at that time.

Although he was able to score 16 goals throughout the season, the financial crisis that plagued the club made him leave. This time, he went to Tottenham Hotspur, for the third time playing under Harry Redknapp.

Redknapp and Crouch made history. Crouch's goal in the 2009/10 season saw Tottenham appear for the first time in the European Champions League. He then scored a hat trick in the play-off against Young Boys, then continued his journey to the quarter-finals.

In 2011, Tony Pulis brought him to Stoke City. There, he became a popular figure in the club. He is friendly, he can joke and is the most recognizable person in the club.

The husband of Abbey Clancy then continues to carve out a beautiful story by scoring a spectacular volley. Playing for Stoke City in a match against Manchester City in March 2012, Crouch again made gold ink on his list of acrobatic kicks.

The end of 2014/15, being Crouch's last season to be the first choice, his collection of goals in the Premier League reached 96. From then on until he was relegated in the 2017/18 season, he "repaid" goals little by little, until he entered the "Club 100": a person who score 100 goals or more in the Premier League. His final record in the Premier League is 108 goals in 462 appearances.

After a number of achievements at club level, and having appeared in two World Cups with a total of 22 goals for the national team, Crouch is now enjoying his retirement as a former footballer.

By cutting off a variety of contexts, the fact is that Crouch has scored more goals in the Premier League than Ruud van Nistelrooy, Cristiano Ronaldo and Fernando Torres.

The Robot Man also scored more assists than David Ginola, Gianfranco Zola and Robert Pires. No less amazing, no one person can score more headers than him.

With 22 goals in 42 games with England, Crouch also has a better goal ratio than Alan Shearer, Bobby Charlton and Wayne Rooney.

There are various things in his life that even he himself never imagined happening. Of course this is about his long football career.