Charlton sees chance for England to win World Cup

BARCELONA, May 22: England 1966 World Cup winner Bobby Charlton said today the country had a great chance of winning the 2006 tournament, but sounded a warning over injured striker Wayne Rooney and untried teenager Theo Walcott.

''Personally I think England have a real good chance. We don't have a surplus of strikers perhaps, but certainly in midfield and defence we seem quite sound,'' Charlton told reporters at the Laureus Sports Awards in Barcelona.

''The players we've got are just about the right age to really do well so I wouldn't discount England. I think whoever beats Brazil will win the World Cup,'' he said, adding that Germany's temperate climate would boost England's chances.

While Charlton seemed hopeful that 20-year-old Rooney would recover in time to play some part in the tournament after breaking a bone in his right foot on April 29, the Manchester United director warned that the striker would not be allowed to play if he was not fully fit.

''It would appear his treatment has gone quite well and it could well be he could play some part in the World Cup ... but to make a mistake and play Wayne Rooney before he's fit would be absolutely disastrous. More disastrous for us, Manchester United, than for England.

''We will look very, very carefully at it and he will not be allowed to play unless he's fully fit. That is a certainty.'' A report in Monday edition of Sun newspaper quoted England team doctor Leif Sward as saying Rooney was making a ''perfect recovery''.

He is due to have a scan on the injured foot on Thursday as he battles to be ready for England's first game against Paraguay on June 10.

Charlton also expressed doubts over the inclusion of 17-year-old forward Walcott, who was picked despite having never played first team football for his club Arsenal.

''I think it's maybe a bit too much to ask of the young player,'' Charlton said.

''I can only compare it to my first match for Manchester United.

People warned me 'you have no idea about the pace and tempo of it' ... I thought I was ready, but when I played my first match I remember thinking, I've never been so tired in my whole life.

''This young lad hasn't even had that situation with his club. I worry not so much for England but the lad himself.''

Reuters