Walcott reveals tears at World Cup snub

Arsenal winger Theo Walcott admits he was reduced to tears by Fabio Capello’s decision to drop him from England’s World Cup squad.

Walcott had been confident he would go to South Africa with England after being named in the provisional 30-man group, but he was surprisingly axed from Capello’s final party.

The 21-year-old was playing golf with a friend and his cousin when Capello called to give him the news which left him crying tears of frustration.

“I had the day off so I was on the golf course and I got the phone call,” Walcott told The Sun.

“He just said, ‘I’m sorry. I’m not going to bring you to South Africa, but I’ll see you in 2012 for the Euros.’

“I didn’t know what to say at all. He said, ‘have a good break and good luck. I’ll see you soon.’

“I will always respect the manager’s decision. If the boss at Arsenal leaves me out of a game, I am always disappointed and I show that.

“You can’t be happy when you are not there. I always want to be there, no matter what happens.

“I did have a tear to be fair with my cousin and my mate. Then I played the best golf ever.”

Walcott, who was taken to the 2006 World Cup as a teenager but didn’t play a single game, admits missing the trip to South Africa was the biggest disappointment in his career.

“There are always disappointments in football, this was my biggest one yet,” Walcott added.

“Obviously I was disappointed but I wanted the lads to do well because I am an England fan as well. I said ‘good luck’ and that was it.”

Walcott endured a frustrating season with Arsenal in 2009-10, starting only 12 Premier League games due to a series of injuries.

Now he is confident his time off due to the World Cup axe will help him have a strong season for both club and country.

“I was obviously very disappointed not to have made it, but now for the first time in a long time, I have been able to have a rest and a proper pre-season,” he said.

“The full pre-season will definitely help. It was an on-off season last season and it’s difficult to come back from that. I would just get back and I’d get another injury.

“I was in double figures last season with injuries. Maybe last year I was thinking about it too much and I was being a bit too timid in games because I was thinking about injury.

“This year I’m just going to get out there and show people what I can do. It’s all I can do really.”