Crouch scored the winner in England's 2-1 win against the hosts Switzerland in Zurich to leave David Platt's squad in buoyant mood before Monday's crucial clash against Italy.

 Photo Gallery: England's win in pictures

It caps a golden spell for 6 ft 7 in striker Crouch, who sealed a �5m move from Portsmouth to Aston Villa near the end of the season and swiftly confirmed his promise at Villa Park.

He admitted: "It's been an unbelievable few months for me. To be honest, I didn't know I was going to be coming to the championships, and to be in the side for the first game was a proud moment for me, and obviously to get my first England goal was another proud moment.

"At one point in the season, I was playing for Portsmouth and it was touch and go whether we were going to get relegated or not.

"In international football if you lose your rag they're pretty quick to send you off, so you've got to keep cool.

"I'll play my own game. If the referee is as picky as he was last night, you've got to try to curb it a little bit, which I did try to do, but it's extremely hard when you've got a referee like that."

Crouch admits he will be singled out for attention - and scorn - because of his giant, stick-like physique.

But he said: "I've been tall all my life, so I've had my critics always.

"I always had it at school, so I'm used to it and to be honest, it doesn't affect me one bit.

"I just get on with my job on the pitch and I've had a lot of nice things said about me as well, so I take the positives out of it and leave the negatives alone."