Walcott surprised by his own Roanldo dip

Kiev, June 16 (IANS/RIA Novosti): England winger Theo Walcott was taken aback by his own ability Saturday, and said he didn’t know he had the kind of fierce dip in his shot that Cristiano Ronaldo can achieve.

Walcott levelled England’s crucial Euro 2012 game with Sweden at 2-2 just four minutes after coming on as a substitute.

He struck a shot from the edge of the box that outfoxed Sweden goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson, who appeared to dive out of the way.

“I think I surprised myself, to be honest,” the 23-year-old Arsenal winger said.

“At first, I thought it took a deflection, that’s why my celebration was a little bit odd. But it didn’t. I watched it back, and I didn’t know I had that sort of Ronaldo dip in me, so I’ll have to do it a bit more often.”

Walcott’s goal had a juddering effect on Sweden, who had just taken the lead through Olof Mellberg.

“It was a very crucial moment of the game, because they just scored, I think that shocked them, and from there we showed them what class we’ve got.”

“That was a tough game tonight, I think we were a bit unlucky to be 2-1 down at one stage, and it just shows the character we’ve got on that pitch.”

Walcott went on to supply the pass for Danny Welbeck’s winner 12 minutes from time.

The Manchester United striker back-heeled the ball into the net from close range.

“Danny made that finish look too easy. It was class. It was one of the best things I’ve seen all tournament.”

The victory leaves England needing a point from their last Group D game against Ukraine Tuesday to make the quarterfinals.