Pele, at 17, was old pro compared to Walcott
By Keir Radnedge (Telegraph)
13/05/2006
Brazilian legend tells Keir Radnedge he had much more experience going into his first World Cup than young England forward.
Theo Walcott will face a more demanding test at the World Cup in Germany than the 17-year-old Pele did in Sweden in 1958.
The judge delivering that verdict should know, being the great Brazilian himself.
Walcott, on the day of England's opening match against Paraguay in Frankfurt, will be 17 years 86 days compared with Pele's 17 years 235 days on his World Cup arrival against the Soviet Union in Gothenburg.
Pele, inserted along with Garrincha into a stuttering Brazilian attack which had scored three goals against Austria but none against England, soon made his presence felt.
He scored a quarter-final winner against Wales, a hat-trick in the semi-final against France and two more in the 5-2 victory over Sweden in the final.
Here similarities end when it comes to assessing Walcott's potential for a similar feat.
Pele, still living the World Cup dream now as tournament spokesman for official sponsor MasterCard, has heard of Walcott but, in common with England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson and most fans and media, has yet to see him play.
But he is wary of comparisons. After all, Pele has heard them all before from England: most recently in Euro 2004 when Eriksson compared Wayne Rooney's impact with that of Pele, just before the striker's ill-fated initial foot fracture in the quarter-final upset against hosts Portugal.
Pele said: "When I came into the Brazil squad I was surrounded by experienced players like Didi, Zito, Nilton Santos. Didi said to me: 'Listen Pele, don't try to do anything different to the way you play with your club. Don't think you have to change your style because now you are in the national team. It's not like that. You're here because of the way you play each week so that's all anyone wants from you.'"
Pele is happy to hand down the advice afforded him in turn by one of the greatest playmakers in the history of the World Cup, but sees few other links between his experience in Sweden and the one Walcott may live in Germany.
Simply, Pele started younger. He said: "Walcott has not played a game in the Premier League yet.
"But when I went to that World Cup in Sweden I had been playing in the first team with my club, Santos, for a year.
"Also, I had played I think five times for Brazil, the first time when I was still 16 and I scored a goal against Argentina. And that was almost a year before the World Cup.
"So when I went to Europe and to Sweden I was more or less engaged with the team and the way everything worked.
"In fact, the only thing that was new to me was the travelling because I had never made a big trip abroad before like that with the national team."
For the record, Pele scored on his senior debut for Santos in September, 1956, when he was not yet 16. He was still more than three months short of his 17th birthday when he made that goal-scoring debut for Brazil against Argentina in 1957.
Maybe further comparison should be deferred until after Walcott and England win the World Cup.
