He's only 17, but already the hopes of a nation are being pinned on Theo Walcott. Lindsay Jennings looks at the pressures the teenage striker is facing and how he might handle them.

THEO Walcott was taking his driving theory test when the call came through. While the 17-year-old was contemplating the finer points of a three point turn, he was cheerfully oblivious to the fascinating turn of events unravelling outside the examination room.

When he switched on his mobile phone, the Arsenal forward learned he'd been selected as part of England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson's provisional 23-man World Cup squad. Six months ago, Walcott was playing for Southampton and has yet to play a competitive game for the Gunners. He only had his first football match when he was ten and, until recently, was earning £90 a week as a football apprentice.

Now, he's on his way to Germany for the World Cup finals as Eriksson's wild card. If he plays, and it's likely he will considering Owen and Rooney's injuries, he will be the second youngest participant in the history of the World Cup finals after Norman Whiteside, who played for Northern Ireland in Spain in 1982, aged 17 years and 41 days.

If he plays against Paraguay in England's opening World Cup match on June 10, he will be 17 years and 87 days old, younger than Wayne Rooney who debuted as England's youngest player at 17 years and 111 days.

Yesterday, Walcott was being compared to the likes of Brazilian star Pele and Argentina's Diego Maradona, teenagers who went on to become footballing legends. Not much pressure there then. Except, of course, there is. Heaps of it.

Caught up in the excitement of being selected, he appears to be coping well with the media scrutiny of him. But then it's early days.

"Of course it's a gamble," he admitted yesterday. "But I just want to work and train with world-class players and improve. I've played in front of big crowds before and it's going to be different, but I think I can handle it. I'm just going to give it my best."

Walcott may be basking in the glow of being selected to play for his Queen and country, but according to Craig Mahoney, professor of applied sports psychology at the University of Wolverhampton, that may change when he gets to Germany and reality hits.

"There'll be intense expectation from his colleagues and the millions of people who will be watching him," says Prof Mahoney. "If it goes well he'll be a hero and if it goes badly wrong he'll be crucified by the Press, and so will the coach, so it's a big gamble all around."

While Walcott has been applauded for his level-headed approach to the news, his laid-back nature doesn't mean he's immune from the intense pressure he is under.

"He's very calm and doesn't seem to have the excitable temperament that Rooney has," says Prof Mahoney. "If it goes badly wrong, some players can strike out aggressively or lose control of their movement skills, but given his laid-back nature he may end up becoming introverted. If that happens it might wreck his style of play because if he's not relaxed, he may lose some of that sparkle.

"There is enormous pressure on his shoulders. You often see this sort of thing at the Olympic Games or the Commonwealth Games, they can't cope with the pressure and they perform poorly. They either come back and regroup or don't recover and it seriously damages their careers."

A sportsman who knows only too well how a lack-lustre England debut can haunt your career is Newcastle Falcons star Mathew Tait, from County Durham. Before his Six Nations match against Wales last year, the media spotlight was well and truly on the then-18-year-old. He was being hailed as the new Jonny Wilkinson (who also debuted for England when he was 18) until the moment Welsh opponent Gavin Henson picked him up and tucked him under his arm as if he were carrying a rolled up carpet.

Tait was subsequently dumped from the squad after his talent had barely had chance to shine through. It could have killed the teenager's confidence completely, but instead he returned to Newcastle and bulked up. He has since showed just how dazzling he can be, clinching a silver medal in the recent Commonwealth Games rugby sevens tournament.

Tait now faces the likelihood of a recall to the England squad for this summer's tour to Australia. But he has given every indication that he has put his debut England international performance firmly behind him.

"To be honest, I've hardly had time to keep up with what I'm doing, never mind what's happening with England," he said recently. "What's gone has gone. I've never looked back to the past and I'm not about to start doing that now."

Another young player who knows exactly how it feels to have the weight of a nation on his teenage shoulders is tennis star Andy Murray. Murray, 18, has superseded Tim Henman as Britain's sole focus of attention at Wimbledon.

And, like Henman, he is finding that the media and the public only seem to judge a tennis player's talents on whether or not he can lift the Wimbledon Men's Championship trophy - regardless of their efforts in tournaments overseas.

Says Prof Mahoney: "These players are carrying with them the weight of a nation and it's unfair. The hype that comes from the media is also unhelpful.

"They don't care about tracking Murray when he's playing in tournaments across the world, only when it comes to Wimbledon. Sometimes we need to think about the pressures we're putting these young people under."

But some players have faced the pressures and have come out the other side as national heroes. In particular, one Michael Owen, who was only 18 when he scored the fantastic goal against Argentina in France during the 1998 World Cup finals.

Walcott may find a kindred spirit in his new England teammate Owen, someone with whom he can discuss the hopes pinned on him, but also someone who can tell him exactly how glorious it is to be a World Cup hero.

"Over the coming days and weeks, Walcott's going to internalise what's happened and think 'sh*t, I've been picked for the England team' and he'll begin to realise gradually what that means," says Prof Mahoney.

"This is the biggest sport in the world. There'll be collectively millions of pairs of eyes on him. But he's got to think that it's his backyard, that he's still playing in Southampton and that the people watching are just his family and friends back home.

"He has to keep it simple - it's just a game of football after all."