Theo Walcott’s journey from “ballboy” to man

LONDON - England footballer Theo Walcott, who was a surprise inclusion in Sven-Goran Eriksson’s preliminary England squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, has quashed all the criticism for his selection at a young age of 17.

Fellow English footballer Steven Gerrard had said in his autobiography that Walcott had “no right” to go to Germany in 2006. Sir Alex Ferguson recently had said that he “still could not understand” the decision taken by Eriksson, and Wigan chairman Dave Whelan had called Walcott “basically the ballboy”.

“It doesn’t bother me at all. I was only 17 and still developing so, yeah, I probably shouldn’t have gone. Everyone has their own opinion but I was absolutely delighted. You will have to ask Sven why. But, now I feel it was the right decision. It’s paid off because I feel like I’ve played well for England,” The Guardian quoted Walcott, as saying.

However, the “ballboy” has become a man, and the highlight of his career came during England’s 2010 World Cup qualifying match against Croatia, where he scored a hat-trick in the 4-1 win.

Walcott further said that he is still a youngster who has a long way to go in the international scenario, and emphasised that he was looking forward to win many more trophies for England and Arsenal.

“People always think it’s about money, money, money, but I just want to win trophies. Ryan Giggs is the perfect example for me, the amount of medals he’s won. You want to look back on your career and see what you’ve achieved, not just have a fancy car and a big house,” Walcott said. (ANI)