In the absence of regular Captain John Terry, defender Rio Ferdinand will lead England in the upcoming world cup qualifier against Kazakhstan on Saturday. Rio Ferdinand has recently talked about England’s new star Theo Walcott who scored hat trick against Croatia last month. Ferdinand compared Walcott with England striker Michael Owen saying that both the players share the same mentality on the field.
Telegraph reported:
“Theo knows what he’s good at,” said Ferdinand. “And Michael Owen was exactly the same.”
“I was with Michael the whole time at the 1998 World Cup in France and he knew that he was a good player and what he was good at…….
“You are seeing the same with Theo now. They’re different players, but have the same mentality.”
Theo Walcott has emerged as a grown up player this season both for this club Arsenal as well as for England. Ferdinand thinks that he has gathered enough experience since his surprise selection in the England squad for 2006 world cup. The defender also thinks that Walcott has come out of himself well and he has the pace and talent in him.
England has won both of their first two qualifying matches last month. The first match against Andorra was not an easy affair, even though England pulled off a 2-0 victory. However, it was against Croatia where England players got their rhythm back thanks to the hat trick of Theo Walcott. Now, let us see if Theo Walcott can continue his excellent form against Kazakhstan.