The Hindu : Sport / Football : Chance for Walcott to create history

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jun 01, 2006

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Sport - Football

Chance for Walcott to create history

The legendary Pele still holds the record for being the youngest scorer

MANCHESTER: Theo Walcott has become England's youngest-ever international. The question is: Will he get the chance to become the World Cup's youngest-ever goalscorer?

According to England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson, Walcott won't just be warming the bench at the World Cup. The teenager was given his first international cap, as a substitute, on Tuesday in England's 3-1 win over Hungary in a World Cup warm-up, and troubled defenders with his pace and came close to scoring.

"I think he wins confidence every time he trains with us, every time he plays for us," Eriksson said. "I think in the World Cup, you will see him. The pace he has, he showed it once again, I think that can be very useful."

Walcott made his England debut aged 17 years, 75 days when he replaced Michael Owen — who also made his name as a talented teenager — in the 65th minute.

England's previous youngest international was Wayne Rooney, who was 17 years, 111 days, when he was substituted into a 3-1 friendly defeat to Australia in February 2003.

Rooney's record

Rooney still holds the record for being England's youngest goalscorer for netting in a 2-1 win over Macedonia on September 6, 2003 aged 17 years and 317 days.

Now 20, Rooney is a mainstay of the England attack, but is an outside chance to play in the World Cup after sustaining a broken foot on April 29. He's definitely out of England's first three group-games and will have a scan on June 7 to determine if he'll play any part at all.

Rooney's injury has opened the door for Walcott, who caused consternation in England by his national selection despite never playing for his English Premier League club Arsenal.

Eriksson hadn't even seen Walcott play when he named him alongside Owen, Peter Crouch and Rooney as forwards in his World Cup squad.

The most expensive

Walcott joined the Gunners on January 20 for an initial fee of £5 million ($9.4 million), which could rise to £12 million pounds ($22.5 million), making him English soccer's most expensive 16-year-old player.

While Rooney grew up in working-class Liverpool and uses his bulky frame to out-muscle opponents, Walcott was raised in a rural setting near Reading, south of London. The slightly built Walcott relies on his speed.

He earned 14 caps for England's under-17 team and scored five goals.

Walcott's first appearance for the senior team was a 30-minute stint in England's 2-1 loss to Belarus on Thursday — an unofficial `B' international that didn't count in the record books.

Handling pressure

"I think Theo handles the weight of expectation fine," Owen said after that match. "He is quite a level-headed lad."

England defender Ashley Cole has trained with Walcott at Arsenal and says he rivals France forward Thierry Henry for pace.

"He's always going to be a threat if we use him up front and he is going to terrify some defenders," Cole said this month. "I've had to mark Theo and I know just how fast he is — very, very fast."

Walcott will be the youngest player at this World Cup and if he nets, he'll beat the record set by Brazilian great Pele, who was 17 years and 239 days when he scored in the 1-0 quarterfinal win over Wales on June 19, 1958 in Sweden.

Pele became the youngest ever World Cup winner 10 days later. — AP

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