England star admits he should not have gone to World Cup after shock call-up

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Former Arsenal and England forward Theo Walcott says he "shouldn't have gone" to the 2006 World Cup after receiving a shock call-up from Sven Goran Eriksson. Walcott, who was 17 at the time, was named in Eriksson's squad for the Germany tournament despite never having played a game for the Gunners.

Walcott signed for Arsenal from Southampton for £12million in January 2006, but had to wait until the start of the following season to make his debut. The 1989-born attacker had scored five in 23 appearances after making his professional bow and starting his career at Saints.

There was a sense of excitement around Walcott's potential and Eriksson decided to offer him a chance in the England World Cup squad despite his tender age and inexperience at the top level.

While at the time Walcott snapped up the chance to represent his nation on the biggest stage, he now believes it was "too much, too soon" and shouldn't have got the call-up from Eriksson.

Speaking to the Daily Mail , Walcott said: "It was too much, too soon for me. You've just turned 17. You've just gone to Arsenal from Southampton in the Championship. You haven't yet played in the Premier League .

"When you're older and you're an adult and you've got more responsibilities and you have your own children, I do look at it now and think, 'Where was the protection side of it?'

"For me, no, I shouldn't have gone. Big Sol Campbell and Ashley Cole looked after me. I saw them both recently and thanked them because they didn't realise what they did for me at the time."

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As well as dealing with the pressure of becoming England's youngest-ever player and going to a World Cup, Walcott had to contend with the paparazzi following his call-up, with photographers parking up and spending the whole night outside his family home in the Berkshire village of Compton.

But his neighbours had his back, as they moved their own cars to trap in one photographer so he could not get a snap of Walcott and his then girlfriend, now wife, Mel.

"They blocked his car in, but he was threatening to run them over if they didn’t get out of the way for the picture," Walcott said. "Just to get a picture. Putting people in danger. Fully grown men following a boy and a girl. When you voice it out loud now, you think, 'Wow. How was that OK'. It was scary, and it was daily."

In the end, Walcott didn't play a single minute for England at the World Cup in 2006, with Eriksson deciding against handing the teenager a big reward for an impressive start to his career.

"It was very different then," Walcott continued. "I had to deal with the paparazzi side. Now, they have the social media side which you can't get away from, this thing that's in the palm of your hands every single minute."

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