Capello : I was wrong on Theo Walcott

 

FABIO CAPELLO last night admitted for the first time he cocked up by leaving Theo Walcott out of his World Cup squad.

Arsenal star Walcott was the surprise omission from Capello’s group which flopped so badly in South Africa, despite being a key member of the team which qualified for the tournament so easily.

 

Capello has confessed that was a major error because the flying winger could have made a huge impact, even as a late sub.

The England coach said: “Having decided not to pick him for the World Cup squad, I thought about him a lot afterwards. He could have played 25 minutes and been dangerous. I made a mistake not selecting him.

“He’s one of the players who can make the difference. I should have taken him.

“He’s one of the players who is so fast that he can make the difference in any moment.

“It was a really difficult choice. Aaron Lennon was playing very well. He was at the top at that moment. I chose Lennon and not Theo for this reason. Lennon was perfect. I saw him and one mistake, he’s one player who can play 20 minutes. This is one change I would have made for this World Cup.”

One of the reasons Capello decided against taking Walcott was that the Gunners star was not back to his best after missing a large chunk of the run-in to last season through injury.

He added: “A thing I am really happy about is that Theo is back. He is playing how I remember when he started to play with us.

“It was a tough decision leaving Theo out for the World Cup. He played only two games before the end of the season. He was not the same player, played every time with fear, in the tackle, he was not to win back the ball quickly.

“Also the movement when he turned, his movement was not fast like now.”

Arshavin: Russia 2018 will change views

Russia captain Andrei Arshavin could not hide his joy after State Red Bear was selected as the 2018 World Cup host. For Arshavin, this is a good opportunity to change the perspective of the world against Russia.

Russia beat England's favorite candidate, and Spain-Portugal and the Netherlands-Belgium as the host of the 2018 World Cup after getting most votes on Thursday night. Hearing the announcement, Arshavin spontaneously leaped from his chair happily.

"I'm very excited, because this is a big event. At present we do not fully understand the meaning of all this for the Russians. Perhaps, many of us a new understanding after 2018 later," said the Arsenal midfielder told FIFA's official website on Friday (3 / 12 / 2010).


"This will be the greatest World Cup in history, because of Russia's population is so friendly. I hope, this moment can change the views of European nations and the world against Russia. Hopefully, this case was able to turn public opinion against Russian citizens," said Arshavin.


So, how the initial reaction of former star Zenit St Petersburg at the sight of FIFA president Sepp Blatter announced as the host of Russia's 2018 World Cup?


"I think I like diving game very hard and long, I was so tired, even with the outcome. But, at the same time, I was very, very happy!" he concluded.