Arsenal teenager Theo Walcott, who earned a surprise call to the English team heading to the World Cup, said it wasn't easy for the manager to pick him up but pledged to be up to the challenge. "Of course it's a gamble," Walcott told Sky Sports News on Tuesday. "I want to work hard and train with world class players. These are going to be World Cup players too. I just want to improve really. "It's going to be different but I think I can handle it really. I'm just going to give it all my best." The 17-year-old striker was tipped by Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger to fill in the boots of Manchester United's Wayne Rooney who may not be fit for the World Cup with a foot injury. Although Walcott hasn't featured for Arsenal in any Premiership or Champions League game since arriving from Southampton in January, England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson decided to name him in a provisional squad.
Owen He was picked up ahead of Tottenham's Jermaine Defoe, who was left in the standby list, and Charlton's Daren Bent whose name surfaced recently as a potential replacement, a decision that stunned Walcott himself. "I was surprised and shocked as everyone was that I couldn't say anything, my first thoughts were I can't believe this," he said. "I called my mum, all my family, my girlfriend, she loved it. Their reaction was looking forward to going to Germany, now it's unbelievable." Despite admitting he is cut from the same cloth of a string of youngsters introduced by England in major tournaments in the past few years, Walcott doesn't like to be compared to any of them, even Michael Owen or Wayne Rooney. "It is something special, the likes of Rooney and Owen were put in at a young age, maybe if I do something like they've done in their careers I could go far," he said. "I can't remember whole games (in the World Cup 1998) but remember Owen's unbelievable goal. "I've seen clips but I don't know why people compare me to other players really. I just want to be myself."
