Theo Walcott’s international career has been nothing but frustrating thus far.
At the age of just 17 he was named in Sven-Goran Eriksson’s squad for the 2006 World Cup. He had never made a Premier League appearance at the time and, despite an injury to Michael Owen, didn’t feature during the tournament.
Four years on Walcott’s fortunes were even worse. A promising season for Arsenal only saw him miss out on the squad as Fabio Capello was far from being the forward’s biggest fan.
Another World Cup came and went under another manager in 2014, Walcott missed the tournament in Brazil due to injury but is hoping to make up for lost time under Roy Hodgson as Euro 2016 approaches.
“It’s something I can’t change,” Walcott told TheFA.com in reference to those ill-fated international campaigns.
“Of course, it’s always frustrating not to be able to play for England, but when I’m not I’m a fan and I’m always watching and wanting the team to do well – so that didn’t stop me from cheering on the guys.
“But I’m happy how things have gone. I’ve got 40 caps for England and I hope to get many more, but firstly I need to play well for Arsenal and then England is the next big target.”
The forward started for Arsenal but failed to impress in the 1-0 win over Newcastle United last weekend, but is well-versed at making up for lost time.
A start in the FA Cup final back in May saw Walcott score the opener for the Gunners, 12 months after missing out on the 2014 final. He made up for 2014 for club, but what about country? England have plenty of improving to do from the World Cup that summer and Walcott is optimistic they will.
“It’s important to learn from mistakes you make, obviously at the World Cup,” said the 26-year-old.
“But that’s gone and we can’t change that now. It’s the best way to react, how we have. Six wins out of six, you can’t get better than that.
“Now it’s all about focusing, finishing the job and the next step is the Euros – we want to be part of the history books.”
England sit pretty at the top of the qualifying group, with San Marino up next. Following that away fixture the team will return to London to play Switzerland at Wembley, but Theo knows the hard work doesn’t stop with getting to France next summer.
“It’s all about results when it comes to the tournament. No-one remembers the winners in the qualifiers sections, it’s always about the next game.”
Arsenal may well need to adopt a similar attitude over the course of the season. After that, here’s hoping that Walcott can finally stamp his authority over an international tournament.