THEO WALCOTT

You have to have sympathy for Theo Walcott. Picked as an unknown 17-year old for the last World Cup four years ago, he didn't play a single game. Now an established member of Premier League side Arsenal, he was the most high-profile casualty when England team manager Fabio Capello reduced his squad from 30 to the final 23.

England have had a mixed run-in to the tournament. After qualifying with something to spare, they have stumbled in recent weeks, both on and off the pitch. Capello didn't listen to my advice (see Playing Away From Home, 4/2/10), but sacked captain John Terry for extra-marital infidelity. His replacement Rio Ferdinand - hardly a saint in my view, but that's neither here nor there - then tore knee ligaments in one of the final training sessions in South Africa, and is out for the tournament. And star striker Wayne Rooney is already being tipped by referees as one of the players most likely to be sent off, for dissent or bad tackling or both.

Most worryingly, England are trying to win the World Cup with a squad that has the highest average age of all the 32 teams (though it came down a bit when Ferdinand was replaced by someone younger). The pundits seem to think that they can definitely make the quarter finals, and possibly the semis. I am not so sure.

My tip to win? My heart says Holland, but my head says Spain, the current European champions. They warmed up with a 6-0 demolition of Poland, which was pretty impressive.

Walter Blotscher