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Theo Walcott will miss England's World Cup qualifier in Poland

Last updated on .From the section Footballcomments183

Theo Walcott
Theo Walcott

England's Theo Walcott has been ruled out of Tuesday's World Cup qualifier in Poland with a chest injury.

Walcott had to stay in hospital on Friday night after he was poleaxed by San Marino goalkeeper Aldo Simoncini in England's 5-0 win.

The winger will return to his club Arsenal for further treatment.

"If I described the challenge as reckless I would be being kind. It was a very fierce challenge," said England manager Roy Hodgson.

"I don't believe there was any malice. But it put a dampener on the evening."

Walcott was left struggling to breathe following the clash with Simoncini, which happened in the sixth minute of the match at Wembley.

The 23-year-old did manage to walk off the pitch following extensive treatment, but then needed to be stretchered back to the changing room.

No date has been set for his return by Arsenal, who visit Norwich in their next game on Saturday, 20 October.

Hodgson's team moved to the top of Group H with an efficient, if not spectacular, win against San Marino, and another three points in Warsaw would enhance their chances of qualifying for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

England performance against San Marino pleases Wayne Rooney

England struggled to break down their stubborn visitors, ranked 207th in the world, before Wayne Rooney and Danny Welbeck netted twice in the space of three first-half minutes.

Rooney, Welbeck and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain added further goals after the break to give a flattering complexion to the scoreline.

Hodgson added: "In normal circumstances the San Marino goalkeeper would have been sent off and we would have gone 1-0 up from a penalty earlier on.

"Had the referee given the penalty and sent the keeper off, which he should have done, we would have scored more goals."

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183 comments

  • Comment posted by User0346148726, at 09:19 13 Oct 2012

    I can't believe people are still saying it was a bad challenge. He spread himself to give him the best possible chance of blocking any shot and there was an accidental collision. It was what any good keeper should have done, but because he's San Marino's keeper everyone calls him reckless. If Joe Hart had done the same thing, Roy and all the pundits would have leapt to his defence.

  • Comment posted by User0251817969, at 08:52 13 Oct 2012

    We were told as early as mid-week that the game was a sell-out, and in fact the FA made a point of re-iterating this several times yesterday in the build-up, which I find puzzling: Whenever the TV cameras panned out and we were able to see the stands, there appeared to be a huge amount of empty seats - any comment Phil?

  • Comment posted by User0763631003, at 09:24 13 Oct 2012

    Normally when keepers come for the ball they're allowed to 'take out' anyone that gets in the way as long as they get the ball. The keeper got the ball so I don't see what the problem is.

    If I was Hodgson I'd be more worried about the total lack of invention in the team. I hope we play better against Poland but I suspect it'll be the usual rubbish.

  • Comment posted by User0369074350, at 09:25 13 Oct 2012

    14. Gurn-O-Rama

    Nail firmly hit on the head right there. Roy complaining after the match was to detract from the pretty poor performance against the minnows!

  • Comment posted by stellatorty, at 09:15 13 Oct 2012

    "Had the referee given the penalty and sent the keeper off, which he should have done, we would have scored more goals." Do we REALLY need an extra man against the mighty San Marino? If so then we should give up qualifying!

  • Comment posted by stoke_lewi, at 13:39 13 Oct 2012

    Agree with you 45, waste of time having teams ranked 150 plus playing against the top 10-20. How will San Marino et al ever improve or have any belief if they get thumped 5-0 every game.
    Also ITV, please please retire Andy Townsend. That's all.

  • Comment posted by 1 Liverpool, at 09:28 13 Oct 2012

    @10 agreed! We had nearly 100 minutes camped inside the final 3rd, allowed to whatever we wanted. Beating San Marino five-nil at home is like Tiger Woods shooting level par at your local muni. Its embarassing. laughable. shameful.

  • Comment posted by SwissColony, at 10:08 13 Oct 2012

    @James

    Winning the ball doesn't automatically mean it's a fair tackle. I can win the ball with a two-footed lunge and break my opponent's leg. Winning the ball doesn't negate dangerous play.

  • Comment posted by Jesus the Teddy Bear, at 08:39 14 Oct 2012

    but who will now run fast for England?

  • Comment posted by User0794970811, at 15:10 13 Oct 2012

    74 - The only thing Shelvey has is age on his side. Cleverly has some creativity about him and is a better prospect than Shelvey for me, who's meteoric rise is just ridiculous. Ex Liverpool greats probably can't believe who puts on a Liverpool shirt these days. Not much better than Jay Spearing and look where he's gone...

  • Comment posted by User0794970811, at 16:24 13 Oct 2012

    82. - Cleverly has a lot to learn clearly but as 84 says, he does get involved in the big moments of the game. Shelvey would be a decent championship player (and he is 20 so he has time to improve) but you'll never see him along side Wilshere at the 2016 European cup for example. He does seem to fit in a rather average Liverpool team though..

  • Comment posted by josh, at 16:45 13 Oct 2012

    @97. well atleast you weren't against a team who dived twice, got a pen for one, the other somehow avoids getting s/o and who also have a goal chopped off when the ball supposedly goes out but is in by 2 yards. the officials get worse every year!

  • Comment posted by Stephen Marsh, at 17:03 14 Oct 2012

    Some people seem to think unless England wins the tournament then they have wasted their time or can't claim to be a decent side. Getting to the 1/4 or semi final is a massive achievement, which most normal people can appreciate.

    There seems to be a lot of deflection going on: 'our side won't qualify, but England won't win the WC, therefore they are a poor team'. All a bit sad & deluded.

  • Comment posted by correct kane, at 09:16 13 Oct 2012

    6. Dexkdes
    " England looked poor at times, it often looked as though they were in a training match. I was pretty appalled by the commentators and fans at the way they panned San Marino throughout"

    Strange comment, I was at the game last night and heard none of this panning you're on about. In fact on the one occasion they attacked they were warmly applauded as were their outgoing substitutions.

  • Comment posted by D1710710046673, at 13:56 13 Oct 2012

    Spurtle,
    5-0 at home but it was 6-0 at Marino both games back in 2005. Very different squads. A more recent result which puts things into perspective was Holland v San Marino last year which the Dutch won 11-0.
    Thats the benchmark England should be looking at.

  • Comment posted by Spurtle, at 13:40 13 Oct 2012

    It is not the worst result in the world. We of course should have been more clinical with our finishing to give us more goals, and in my opinion with Defoe on who should be first choice at the moment, we would have. However this team was only beaten 5-0 by Spain at home not so long ago which puts things into perspective a little.

  • Comment posted by Oysterman, at 16:24 13 Oct 2012

    He didn't pull out of a reckless challenge. Anyone otrher than a San Man keeper would have been sent off.

    He has been very unlucky with injuries.

    We all wish him a speedy recovery.

  • Comment posted by Rob, at 13:21 13 Oct 2012

    Why did England keep trying to go through the penalty spot with Welbeck's height and 2 capable wing players? Even worse when Carroll came on!

  • Comment posted by Drobefox, at 16:26 13 Oct 2012

    The comparisons to Rugby are pointless and ridiculous.Players of either sport would probably put themselves in hospital attempting a dive from 10 metre board...does that mean Tom Daley is tougher? Of course not....but until a footballer fakes a blood injury with a capsule or is purposely cut by a doctor I think the rugby fans have lost the moral high ground they used to throw at all football fans.

  • Comment posted by Darpor, at 10:29 13 Oct 2012

    I noticed some people last night and then this morning claiming the challenge was fine because the goalkeeper got the ball. Nonsense.

    The reason that the keeper managed to get a foot on the ball was because Walcott started to pull back once the keeper had taken off and he realised it could be nasty. In any other game, that would have been a sending off, no question.