He looked a bit like an unoiled crane trying to manoeuvre in high winds, but Peter Crouch’s unusual goal celebration in England’s World Cup warm-up game has apparently sparked a dance craze.
The 2,04m Liverpool striker embarked on the jerky blend of body-popping, robotic dancing and moonwalking after scoring England’s second in the 3-1 win against Hungary on Tuesday, to the bemusement of everybody watching.
But the 25-year-old may just have sparked the latest novelty dance like the Macarena, YMCA or the Time Warp.
“Clubs reported punters mimicking the routine within minutes of the Old Trafford game,” The Sun said on Thursday in a double-page spread with a pictorial guide on how to “Do the Crouch” in five easy steps.
Sky News television played the celebration on a loop, while The Guardian got 12 members of the public, from window cleaners to park rangers, to copy the footballer’s moves, marking them out of 10.
The newspaper attempted to shed some serious light on the origins of Crouch’s stiff-legged shuffle, sourcing it to gangs in Los Angeles and New York in the 1970s, even getting a street dancer and teacher to give his assessment.
“If he wants to do it properly he’s got to be a lot harder when he hits the moves and he’s got to stop faster,” Howard Tam was quoted as saying.
But the lofty sportsman himself had a simpler explanation.
Crouch told The Sun it came from him “throwing a few shapes” at a glitzy charity party hosted by Victoria and David Beckham.
“There has been some great banter this week because of it and I thought it was the best way to celebrate the goal,” he said.
“The rest of the lads just fell about laughing. Let’s hope the country gets to see more of it during the World Cup.” – AFP