"Peter Crouch showed tonight that he's very important to the team even if he starts on the bench," said Eriksson.
"He was involved a lot against Argentina and scored tonight. That's Peter Crouch, he's different. Even when he came on I don't think we used him as well as we should have done. We had chances to cross and free-kicks out wide that we kept instead of putting it in directly. When the ball goes up there, and it's the right ball, it's almost impossible to defend against him.
"He not only scored but he was involved in a lot of positive things. He's different to anything else we have.
"He's not the most elegant football player in the world, but if the right ball comes in he will win it. He's good on the floor as well, he can keep the ball.
"I will not promise him a World Cup place, but it will be difficult to leave him out."