London, Jun 4 (IANS): Former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, who is now in charge of Ivory Coast, has expressed surprise at Theo Walcott's failure to make the football World cup squad in South Africa.

Walcott has been left out of Fabio Capello's squad after suffering a series of injuries and loss of form.

Eriksson, a Swede, caused a huge stir four years ago when he selected the then 17-year-old Walcott - at that stage without a single Premier League game to his name - in his 23-man squad for the finals in Germany, although he did not feature at all in the tournament.

A hat-trick in a World Cup qualifier against Croatia in September 2008 only enhanced Walcott's chances of playing in South Africa.

Eriksson said he was surprised by Capello's decision because four years ago Walcott was the golden boy, or (showed that he) can be the golden boy.

"Maybe the expectation on him was too big, I don't know," Eriksson told BBC Radio Five Live. "The only person that can speak about that is (Arsène) Wenger. Four years ago I thought he could be a great player - and he still can be of course."