Prince William told David Beckham and the rest of the England football team to lift the World Cup for him in Germany, voicing his fear of having to go through the national agony of another penalty shoot-out.

Prince William laughs at Peter Crouch's robotic dance. [Telegraph]

"They promised to bring the World Cup home for us,'' declared the prince, who is the new president of the Football Association, yesterday after dropping into England's training HQ outside Manchester to watch Sven-Goran Eriksson's players go through their paces.

"I remember many a moment in previous World Cups, especially penalties. Please not penalties again!"

The prince laughed at the striker Peter Crouch's robotic-dance goal celebration, first seen during Tuesday's game against Hungary. "I was goaded by the lads to do it,'' the Liverpool forward said later.

The prince also heard optimistic noises from Wayne Rooney about his metatarsal injury. "I wanted to send a good luck message to the players directly,'' said Prince William. "I am 150 per cent behind the team. It [would] be awesome if we could win the World Cup.''

Eriksson's players ribbed the prince about his support for Aston Villa. "No disrespect to Villa,'' said the midfielder Joe Cole. "He went to watch them as a youngster and he liked watching them. But Chelsea is his local team at Buckingham Palace."