- Theo Walcott was taken to the 2006 World Cup in Germany when he was 17 years old.
- He had never played in the Premier League before his call-up.
- Liverpool correspondent LEWIS STEELE tells all in explosive chat with Mo Salah – LISTEN NOW It’s all starting! New episodes every Monday and Thursday.
Theo Walcott has admitted it was wrong for England to pick him for the 2006 World Cup when he was just 17.
Sven-Goran Eriksson made the surprising decision to include the then-teenager in his team, even though Walcott had never played in the Premier League before.
And looking back almost 20 years later, Walcott feels it wasn’t a smart decision, as he was left wondering why he had been included after intense media scrutiny.
‘When you say it out loud, it’s not right. It really isn’t,” Walcott told Sky Sports on Monday night after West Ham’s 2-0 win over Newcastle. “You think about the players and we still call them young at 22, 23 years old.
“I have said clearly for many years that I should never have gone – there were other players who were experienced and had played at the highest level and I was new to the game.
He added: “I didn’t want to be part of the whole circus that came with this.” For me it was about playing and enjoying football. It was a really difficult time when I was consoling people like John Terry, who won a lot of things and played a lot of internationals for England. “And I’m a 17-year-old kid who thinks I shouldn’t even be here.”
Theo Walcott admitted on Monday Night Football that he should not have gone to the 2006 World Cup
Walcott was chosen by Sven-Goran Eriksson despite never having played in the Premier League
Walcott said not being able to play a single minute in Germany was a big “disappointment” for him.
Walcott did not play a single minute in the tournament in Germany, when England lost in the quarterfinals after losing on penalties to Portugal.
The former Arsenal winger revealed he could have taken the field in that last-16 clash, but Wayne Rooney’s sending off scuppered those plans, with Walcott admitting not playing was a big “disappointment” after Eriksson was sidelined. I would risk for him. .
“The disappointing part was not playing,” Walcott said.
“I could have done it if Waz hadn’t been sent off, but that was the passion I played with. In the end it didn’t work out for me, but what I did learn was that I enjoyed football.”
Walcott joined Arsenal immediately after the World Cup and spent 12 years at the Emirates, winning three FA Cups during this period.
He also earned 47 caps for England but never played in a World Cup, and Jamie Carragher admitted that being singled out at a young age hindered Walcott’s development.
“I don’t think I’ve done you any favors as a player,” Carragher said. “People think, ‘We’ve got the next Michael Owen or Pele who’s going to win the World Cup at 17,’ and you think, ‘He must be out of this world, world class, one of the best players England has ever seen.'” .
“I think that puts undue pressure on you in terms of your career.”