Crouch is ready to continue playing for England

Peter Crouch remains committed to England despite starting only one international during the past 13 months, sources close to the player have indicated.

Tottenham striker Crouch was reported to be ready to walk away from England while Fabio Capello remained as head coach after not being named among the substitutes for Saturday’s Euro 2012 qualifier with Switzerland.

But it appears Crouch will continue to make himself available for his country.

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He is expected to confirm this at a function for one of England’s sponsors today.

Crouch has been a consistent goalscorer for his country, with 22 in 42 internationals but the Tottenham player has not found favour with Capello.

His only start since May 2010 was in the Euro 2012 qualifier with Montenegro at Wembley in October and he was taken off and replaced by Kevin Davies in a match which finished goalless.

Since then Crouch has been restricted to a substitute’s appearance in the November friendly against France.

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The 30-year-old has not featured in the last three games against Wales, Ghana and now the Swiss.

But he is believed to have made it clear he will still report for duty despite his frustration at being on the periphery of Capello’s plans.

England are unlikely to play Argentina as part of the Football Association’s 150th anniversary celebrations and instead a tour of Brazil may be on the cards.

A match against Argentina in 2013 had been the subject of talks during England’s 2018 World Cup campaign but the chances of that have faded since the bid’s failure.

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FA insiders insist there is no connection to the vitriolic attack by Argentina’s FIFA vice-president Julio Grondona in Zurich last week.

A decision on the 150th anniversary games will be linked to England’s preparations for the World Cup in Brazil the following year. One possible idea is that England could go on a tour of the country, perhaps playing in different World Cup venues.

England have not played in Brazil since 1984 when John Barnes’s wonder goal set up a 2-0 victory.

It has also been mooted England could take part in a Home Nations tournament but that would involve using up all their friendly dates.

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The Argentina game was talked up by England bid chiefs as recently as November, but no contract was signed.

Guillermo Tofoni, who is in charge of Argentina’s fixture list, was under the impression the match in 2013 would take place, however.

If that fails to materialise it will not have been the first friendly organised on the back of England’s 2018 bid to have bitten the dust.

A friendly against Thailand planned for tomorrow was cancelled by the FA following the 2018 bid defeat.