Theo's adventure

By Dan Freedman at the England Hotel. Friday, 30 June 2006.

England v Portugal
Saturday 01 July 2006
World Cup, Quarter-Final
Veltins-Arena, Gelsenkirchen
4pm kick off (London Time)

The Arsenal and England starlet speaks exclusively to TheFA.com about his
World Cup adventure.

Theo Walcott will never forget his first World Cup, not just because at the
age of 17 he is on the verge of making history - but because he is capturing
all his memories on his film!

The Arsenal teenager will become the youngest English player ever to grace
the World Cup if he comes off the bench at any stage in England’s campaign
here in Germany.

But the unassuming striker, who has taken the whole experience in his stride,
is making sure he doesn’t let any of it pass by.

In an exclusive interview with TheFA.com, his first in an England shirt since
Sven-Goran Eriksson named him in his 23-man squad, he has revealed he is the
Three Lions’ very own Steven Spielberg!

He said: "I’m filming myself every day on my camcorder, how I’m feeling and
how training has gone. I may even interview a couple of the lads, it will be
good fun to do!

"The kind of things I’m saying into the camcorder are about training, how
well I’m doing, how the game went the other day, the heat. That kind of
stuff.

"My dad wants to know how I’m doing in training but I’m not really telling
him because I’m putting it on the camcorder - so he’ll see soon!"

Talking to Walcott at England’s team hotel it’s hard to imagine he is only
17 years old. He is eloquent, relaxed and already at home in the company of
the country’s top players - even if he admits to a few butterflies when he
first trained with the squad on a pre-tournament trip to Portugal.

"I was so nervous in the first training session, I think you know that," he
said. "Especially as a 17 year old coming to his first World Cup. I knew the
names of all the players, all these big stars and world class players and I
was training with them. I do it with Arsenal but with England it’s
unbelievable.

"All of them have impressed me but especially all the young players. But the
captain has helped us settle in and the manager of course as well.

"Now I’m enjoying it, all the lads are brilliant and are looking after me as
they do with the younger players.

"It’s been very nice weather here, too, so it’s great to train in the
morning and relax in the afternoon.

"The last couple of weeks in training I think I’ve been doing quite well. I’
ve settled in quite fine, all the lads are taken with me and its going well."

Walcott is yet to make his World Cup bow but he has still been able to relish
the experience and remains hopeful of playing a part in England’s battle to
win the trophy.

"This is a really big experience for myself even if I don’t play. It will
help me in years to come I think," he said, before reminding us that even
Brazil’s Ronaldo sat on the bench for an entire World Cup when he was 17!

"But my aim is still to play in this World Cup - definitely. I’m working
hard in training, showing what I can do and it’s the manager’s decision.

"I go in with a lot of confidence and I improve after every training session.
I just try and train as I do at Arsenal because all these world class players
are going to find you with their passes. It’s brilliant."

For those who haven’t seen Walcott play yet, they are in for a treat when he
pulls on an England shirt for the second time - having made his debut against
Jamaica in a pre-tournament friendly. And for those of you who have been
living on Mars for the last six weeks it is his pace that marks him out as
something special.

"A few people have talked about my pace, finishing and my touch," he said. "I
’m trying to improve all of those as you do when you are a young player.
Hopefully I’ll develop into a very good player one day.

"I haven’t timed myself over 100m for a long time but when I was in year
nine, at the age of about 14, I did 11.5. But I don’t know what I would do
it in now.

"In this squad my pace is up there, and it’s a good thing for defenders to
train against as well because they are going to find it a lot in the World
Cup - including Cristiano Ronaldo coming up this weekend."

It’s inevitable that people will draw comparisons between Walcott and Wayne
Rooney, after all the Manchester United striker came into the squad at a
similar age and made a dramatic impact.

"Wayne is a brilliant player to learn from," admits Theo.

"But I’m not really feeling pressure, there shouldn’t be pressure at 17
anyway. I’m just trying to develop as a player and train well."