Poll Says Crouch is Targeted By Referees

Former referee Graham Poll has claimed the game's top officials were told to "look out for" England striker Peter Crouch.

Poll says World Cup referees in Germany last summer were told to keep a close eye on Crouch because of his distinctively rangy playing style. "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.' 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."

Crouch is suspended for England's Euro 2008 qualifier with Israel on Saturday after picking up a booking in England's 3-0 Group E win over Estonia in Tallinn.

Poll himself is no stranger to controversy. In Croatia's clash against Australia in the 2006 World Cup the referee, who retired this summer, notoriously gave Josip Simunic three yellow cards before sending him off.

Crouch has struggled to hold down a place in the Liverpool squad this season following the arrivals of Fernando Torres and Andriy Voronin.