Sven-Goran Eriksson today has made it clear Walcott, along with the other England youngsters Lennon and Downing, stand a good chance of getting some action at the World Cup in Germany,
“I played Wayne Rooney when he was 17 in a qualification game against Turkey. In Portugal or Italy or Sweden no-one would say I’m not adventurous. I’ve always been ready to take out players and put in younger players if necessary. I hope to start with the best X1 and you know what that is. We have to wait on Rooney. But we have a lot of players starting on the bench who will be knocking on the door. I’ve always liked pace in football but if you don’t have it I can’t buy it in this job. I have to wait for it to come through.”
Two months ago though, Eriksson was singing somewhat a different tune,
“It’s very difficult to take a player without a cap to a World Cup. You never know but probably not, without closing all the doors. Going from the bench in a club team to international football in a World Cup, that step is extremely big.”
Rooney’s injury and doubts over Michael Owen have changed all that now.
Theo will get his fist chance to impress Eriksson and the rest of the country in an England B international against Belarus on May 25th at Reading.