■ Germany
No more robotics for Crouch
Much to the disappointment of England fans, lanky striker Peter Crouch has decided to cut his cult robot dance. In the build-up to the tournament, Crouch achieved instant notoriety with his unique goal-scoring celebration that stole the headlines from Wayne Rooney's broken metatarsal. Even clubbers started "Doing the Crouch" on the dance floors of Britain, mimicking his routine that looked like a creaky version of the disjointed droid C3PO in Star Wars. But Crouch now wants to concentrate on the serious business. "It was a bit of harmless fun at first which seems to have escalated," he told reporters as England prepared for its next match against Trinidad and Tobago tomorrow. "If we win the World Cup maybe you will see the whole team do it but for the moment I don't think I will be doing it again," he said.
■ Italy
Prosecutor points to Cafu
A court prosecutor called for Brazil captain Cafu to be convicted for alleged passport fraud, news reports said on Monday. Cafu and 17 others -- including his wife, AS Roma owner Franco Sensi and former Argentine player Gustavo Bartelt -- are facing charges in the two-year-old case. "We don't know why the news came up now," Cafu said in Berlin. Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira also downplayed the news. "We've been here for four weeks and this came up only today [Monday] ... maybe to try to destabilize us," Parreira said. "We've already talked to Cafu and he is tranquil, he said there's nothing to hide." Prosecutors allege that Cafu and Bartelt used false passports to gain Italian citizenship and join Roma, circumventing rules that limit non-EU players being hired by Italian clubs.
■ Libya
Qaddafi blasts FIFA
Leader Muammar Qaddafi blasted soccer as modern-day slavery and said the millions spent on the World Cup should be spent fighting poverty in developing countries, German sports agency SID reported on Monday. "FIFA has reactivated the slavery system and the trade in human beings from Africa to Europe and America, and from Latin America to Europe," the dictator and avid soccer fan said. "The children of poor countries have become the slaves of the rich ones." Soccer's governing body is not doing enough to fight racism in the game, he added. The Libyan national team have never reached the World Cup, coming closest in the leadup to the 1986 event in Mexico before losing to Morocco.
■ Australia
Cup diet warning issued
Men were warned yesterday that their unhealthly World Cup diets would turn them into "blimps," as the nation's interest in the tournament soared after the Socceroos' victory over Japan. Dietician Karen Inge said men's love of beer and fatty foods would have their waistlines bulging if they did not adopt a healthy regimen over the month-long tournament. Inge said she conducted a spot survey asking about 20 males what they were eating during the event and was concerned about the results. "They were eating about two-and-a-half times their daily energy requirements, including up to 384g of fat -- that's five times the recommended intake," she said. "Aussie men are sports nuts and while they're watching it they like to drink beer and eat this stuff to soak up the alcohol -- it's all deep-fried or sugar-coated," she said. "There's not a fruit or vegetable in sight."
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