Manchester (England): Prince William paid a surprise visit to England's World Cup squad on Thursday and was treated to a demonstration of the goal-celebration dance that has amused the nation.
The 23-year-old prince, who is second in line to the British throne after his father Charles, is the honorary president of the English Football Association.
The casually dressed prince chatted with injured striker Wayne Rooney on the sidelines, then met with coach Sven-Goran Eriksson, captain David Beckham and the rest of the team in a huddle in the middle of a pitch at Manchester United's training ground.
Rooney turned up halfway through the session, wearing England shorts and shirt but sneakers rather than football boots. He chatted with William while his teammates practiced penalty kicks.
Rooney will definitely miss England's first three group matches - against Paraguay, Trinidad and Tobago and Sweden. And a scan next Wednesday on his broken right foot will determine if he'll be able to play if the team advances to the later rounds.
William and the players burst out laughing when 6-foot-7 (2 m) striker Peter Crouch gave a brief re-enactment of the robot dance he performed after scoring in England's 3-1 friendly win over Hungary on Tuesday.
Crouch was filmed doing the jerky, 1980s dance at David Beckham's pre-World Cup party - excerpts of which were shown on British television.
Since then, Crouch has been teased by his teammates, with shouts of ''do the dance'' and ''robot'' accompanying his penalty practice on Thursday. TV stations and newspapers have had a field day with the dance, calling it ''The Crouch.''
William will attend the team's World Cup opener against Paraguay on June 10 in Frankfurt - his first England match since succeeding his uncle, Prince Andrew, as FA president a month ago.
The son of Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana, William presented the trophy at the May 13 FA Cup final at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium when Liverpool beat West Ham in a penalty shootout after a 3-3 draw.
Meanwhile, right back Gary Neville didn't train on Thursday as a precaution after coming off at halftime with a hamstring strain at halftime against Hungary.
England plays Jamaica in a friendly at Old Trafford on Saturday in its final warm-up before the World Cup.
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