Finland captain awaits Walcott reunion

Finland captain Tim Sparv may be evasive when asked how he plans to deal with former Southampton FC club-mate Theo Walcott on Monday – "I tried for two years and couldn't" – but on the subject of his side's chances at their maiden UEFA European Under-21 Championship he is much more candid.

English team-mate
The 22-year-old midfielder Sparv was a trainee at Southampton between 2003 and January 2007 and watched how Walcott, now 20, surged into the first team, earning a move to Arsenal FC in 2006. "Everyone in the academy team at Southampton knew he was a good player, so we're not that surprised that things have gone very well for him," he told uefa.com. "He was one of the best players during my time there and he progressed very fast from the youth setup to the first team – and now he is at Arsenal and in the England national team. We noticed early on that he had amazing pace and good technique. He's going to be a big star at Arsenal and hopefully also in the England team so I wish him all the best ... but not against us.

Tired legs
"England have a lot of good players but he's one to look out for," Sparv added as the subject of Walcott inevitably dominated again in the pre-match press conference. "I'll be giving some hints to my team-mates but how can you stop him? I tried for two years at Southampton and couldn't and I'm not getting any quicker. We all have to help each other to prevent him scoring." Walcott, as Sparv knows only too well, is a class act, but he is not the only one in the England camp, with the likes of Gabriel Agbonlahor, Lee Cattermole and Mark Noble also boasting plenty of Premier League experience. Not that Sparv feels he has reason to be overawed. "Many of the bigger players have had a long season at their club teams, so maybe they will be a bit tired when they come here – we'll see," he said. "On paper they have the stronger team and when they see the list of the teams we play for they must be laughing. But when the game starts, it's eleven against eleven, so anything can happen."

Home encounter
Against England, Sparv will have the added motivation of playing in front of his home crowd, since he joined Halmstads BK from Southampton. "It's definitely something I am looking forward to, it's special in many ways; it's my home ground, it's the opening game," he explained. "To be the captain and lead out the team will be something of a highlight too, absolutely. I haven't spoken to Walcott for a while now but I have been speaking to [another former Saints trainee] Martin Cranie. We all lived together for two years in Southampton so know each other very well. We've been giving each other grief. It will be fun meeting up with them and hopefully I'll be the one laughing at the end of it."