Graham Poll, the former World Cup referee, has claimed the game's top officials have been told to "look out for" Peter Crouch, the England striker. Poll says referees in Germany last summer were told to keep a close eye on the Liverpool forward because of his awkward playing style.

Crouch, who has scored 12 international goals, will miss England's crucial European Championship qualifier with Israel on Saturday through suspension.

Poll said: "At the World Cup last year we were shown videos of games and the head of refereeing at Fifa said, 'Look at this big fella Crouch, he's a real pain and he's getting away with too much. We need to mark him out as a player we need to look out for.'"

"Crouch has been picking up cautions and is out of Saturday's match. We watched England's warm-up games, and had been out there for two or three weeks before, and it was pointed out the way he used his arms.

"I tried to defend him, being English."