Whilst most of the talk regarding England’s attacking options before an international match normally revolves around who will partner Wayne Rooney, given his impressive goalscoring record when starting, the question should actually centre on who should partner Peter Crouch.
Peter Crouch's England starts
| Date | Opposition & Venue | Results | Goals | Minutes Played |
| May 31 2005 | Colombia (N) | 3-2 | 0 | 73 |
| Oct 8 2005 | Austria (H) | 1-0 | 0 | 90 |
| Jun 3 2006 | Jamaica (H) | 6-0 | 3 | 90 |
| Jun 10 2006 | Paraguay (N) | 1-0 | 0 | 90 |
| Jun 15 2006 | Trinidad & Tobago (N) | 2-0 | 1 | 90 |
| Aug 16 2006 | Greece (H) | 4-0 | 2 | 90 |
| Sep 2 2006 | Andorra (H) | 5-0 | 2 | 90 |
| Sep 6 2006 | Macedonia (A) | 1-0 | 1 | 88 |
| Oct 7 2006 | Macedonia (H) | 0-0 | 0 | 90 |
| Oct 11 2006 | Croatia (A) | 0-2 | 0 | 72 |
| Feb 7 2007 | Spani (H) | 0-1 | 0 | 90 |
| Jun 6 2007 | Estonia (A) | 3-0 | 1 | 90 |
| Nov 16 2007 | Austria (A) | 1-0 | 1 | 73 |
| Nov 21 2007 | Croatia (H) | 2-3 | 1 | 90 |
|
Apr 1 2009 |
Ukraine (H) | 2-0 | 1 | 79 |
| Jun 10 2009 | Andorra (H) | 6-0 | 1 | 90 |
| Oct 14 2009 | Belarus (H) | 3-0 | 2 | 90 |
| Total | 16 | 1465 |
As our table shows, In 17 starts for England, Crouch has managed 16 goals, at a rate of one goal every 91.6 minutes, a formidable record which few other players could match for their national side.
Impressively, the Spurs striker has also found the net in his last six starts for his country, bagging a total of seven goals in this period.
By comparison Rooney has scored only 25 goals in 52 starts on the international stage.
The problem for Crouch is that he fails to equal this scoring rate when coming on from the bench.
Crouch has appeared as a substitute for the Three Lions on 18 occasions, but bagged only two goals in 531 minutes of action when not starting.
Some may argue that his prolific scoring rate when starting is down to his being used against “weaker” opposition, and so with Emile Heskey out of the squad against Brazil, Crouch will be hoping to prove his credentials as a starter for England against the South American giants on Saturday ahead of next year’s World Cup finals.
Watch England v Brazil live on ITV.com on Saturday from 4.15pm
