England News

• Nickname:Three Lions
• Founded: 1872
• Manager:Roy Hodgson

• Ground:Wembley Stadium
• Capacity:90000

Wenger: Walcott snub a mistake

08 Jul 2010 - 14:28:53

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Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger claims the omission of Theo Walcott from England's World Cup squad was an obvious mistake.

Head coach Fabio Capello raised eyebrows when he overlooked the 21-year-old forward on the eve of the tournament.

Walcott was cut from a provisional 30-man squad with Manchester City's Shaun Wright-Phillips and Aaron Lennon of Tottenham both preferred in the wide right role.

But following England's dismal showing in South Africa which ended with a 4-1 defeat to Germany at the last 16 stage, Wenger has questioned Capello's decision to omit Walcott.

"It was a big mistake," said the Frenchman. "Walcott is a player who can change a game upside down in the second half in your favour.

"He has speed and can cause a lot of problems for the opponents."

Walcott has won 11 caps for England and became the youngest player in history to score a hat-trick for the Three Lions during a 4-1 World Cup qualifying victory over Croatia at Wembley in September 2008.