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Prince William promised trophy
02/06/2006 07:56 - (SA)
Manchester - Britain's Prince William said the England football team promised to bring home the World Cup from Germany when he gave them a good luck message at their training camp on Thursday.
With less than a week before the team flies to Germany, the second-in-line to the throne made a surprise visit to Manchester United's Carrington training ground to meet manager Sven-Goran Eriksson and his players.
The elder son of Prince Charles said he was confident Eriksson's team would do well in Germany, but he appealed to the squad to avoid penalties, which have caused England to drop out of three of the last five major competitions.
"I wanted to send a good luck message to them direct. I wished them luck and asked them to bring the World Cup home for us. They said they would," he said.
"I am sure they will do very well. It would be awesome to win the World Cup.
"I hope it brings the whole country together with a feeling of camaraderie as everyone shares in the highs and lows and tensions.
"But please, no penalties."
He added: "To all the fans, go and support the team well and keep the passion up.
"Like the rest of the country, I am 150% behind the England team and I would like to wish them all the best."
The England manager halted Thursday's training session - preparing for England's final warm-up friendly against Jamaica on Saturday - to introduce Prince William.
The royal was also given a personal demonstration of "The Crouch", lanky England forward Peter Crouch's bizarre goal-scoring celebration during a World Cup warm-up match.
William burst out laughing and shook his head as the 2.04m Liverpool forward gave a reprise of the stiff-legged robotic shuffle that has apparently sparked a dance craze.
Crouch, 25, performed the dance - a jerky blend of body-popping, robotic dancing and moonwalking - after bagging England's second goal in the 3-1 friendly win against Hungary at Old Trafford, Manchester, on Tuesday night.
After a two-day ribbing in the British press about his dancing abilities, teammates urged Crouch to give them a laugh once more.
Midfielder Joe Cole said William, who visited in his capacity as the new president of the English Football Association (FA), was "just a normal fellow, (a) down-to-earth guy."
"He is a nice bloke. He just wants to get a feel of it, being the president, wants to know what the lifestyle for the lads is like. He's more of a rugby man than a football man but he did seem to know his stuff," he added.
William also talked to injured Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney, whose chances of making the finals in Germany on June 9 are touch and go after he broke a bone in his foot in April.
The team flies out to Germany on Monday with the prince expects to watch the opening fixture against Paraguay on June 10 after meeting England fans and local dignitaries in Frankfurt.
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Rugby
