Untested Walcott to rescue England?

Both Pele and Ronaldo were 17 when they set the world alight with their 5-star performance in the World Cup. Even Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney were about the same age when they burst into the international arena.

A 17-year-old Maradona was protected by his home football association and not allowed to play in the 1978 World Cup but he did burst into the world football stage at a young age. And so did Kaka, Robinho and Lionel Messi.

So why then such a furore over the selection of 17-year-old Theo Walcott to the England World Cup squad?

We all know about his potential talent and that he is very highly rated - so much so that Arsenal paid 12million pounds to take him to Arsenal in January.

But therein lies the problem. Unlike all the other 17-year-olds who made such an impact in the past World Cups and international arena following a huge success in club football, Theo has no first team experience at all in competative football. He has only played 16 times for Southampton and thrice for Arsenal reserves.

All he has done to impress Sven Goran Eriksson are his skills in trainings.

And Eriksson believes he has a world beater just based on this. It is a big gamble on the manager's part no doubt.

If Theo is such a phenomenal prodigy, why didn't Arsene Wenger start playing him in the league? He didn't even make any cameo apperances as a substitute.

Theo could surprise everyone at the World Cup and be England's unlikely saviour and that will do good for the player, and ultimately his club in the new season.

Or he could flop miserably and end up losing his confidence.

Eriksson has put so much of burden on this boy's young shoulders. In the next month or so we will know if he can carry the weight of his country's dream or collapse under the heavy burden.