Today’s final in the U-21 European Championship between England and Germany will decide the fate of Arsenal forward Theo Walcott as regards his position in the FTBL Top 23 of English forwards: after spending much of the season in the shadow of leader Wayne Rooney (189.81 points), the young Gunner began fast-losing rating points, first falling behind Tottenham Hotspur’s Jermain Defoe (104.30 points) and then Porthsmouth’s Peter Crouch (100.11 points) and Aston Villa’s Gabriel Agbonlahor (99.42 points) despite England’s win over hosts Sweden in the semi-final (33:3; 5:4 on penalties).
With an overall rating of 99.1 points, Walcott is only 13 rating points ahead of Villa’s Emile Heskey (95.16 points). The young forward will have a daunting plank of 26.70 rating points to beat against the Germans. A loss for England will send Walcott out of the elite group in favor of West Ham United’s Dean Ashton (81.56 points).
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