Shooting star

England v Austria
U18 International Friendly
7pm, Wednesday 16 April, 2008
Victoria Park, Hartlepool United FC

You could forgive Daniel Welbeck if he allowed himself to get carried away for a few moments.

The England U18 striker is seemingly on the fringe of fulfilling a life-long ambition by playing for Manchester United - he was on the bench for Wednesday's Champions League win over Roma - and you would struggle to find a prouder man if that dream comes true.

"It will be a special moment and I’ll try as hard as I can if it happens," said the 17-year-old, who has been named in the squad for the U18 friendly with Austria.

"My whole family is United so it would be a proud moment for them. It’d be doing it for them and for the Stretford End."

Welbeck warmed the Old Trafford bench with such luminaries as Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney as United won 3-0 on aggregate to book a mouth-watering Semi-Final clash with Barcelona.

The three of them spent half-time warming up together but Welbeck, despite being so young, is used to kicking about with some of the best players in the world.

After making a cameo appearance in United's friendly with Saudi Arabian side Hilal in January, Welbeck was promoted to train with the first team after impressing Sir Alex Ferguson.

"Training is so quick," said Welbeck. "You only have a split-second, so you need to be quick with your head and your feet. When you make a run you know the likes of Scholes, Giggs or Rio are going to find you.

"It’s improved me as a player though and I’ve noticed a massive difference between that and the reserves."

And what about training with Ronaldo - the Portuguese dream-weaver currently mesmerising both defenders and fans?

"He’s a joke really, even better when you see him in person," he added. "He’s got so many tricks, acceleration and is good in the air. He’s the best in the world.

"He’s always doing extra training though. That tells me that even though I am pushing my way up I need to work hard."

Welbeck has been involved with the England set-up since U16 level, shining at last summer's U17 World Cup in South Korea and continuing that form when the U18s beat Ghana in November.

"It’s hard to explain how it feels when you score for your country," he said.

"As a striker it’s always good to score goals but you can never score enough. You need to be sharp in the penalty box and ruthless. If you are two-on-one and can give someone else the chance to score, you should go for the goal yourself. That’s the difference between the top strikers."