Roeder tips Cole to shine

West Ham manager Glenn Roeder believes Joe Cole can ‘‘do a Pele’’ and become one of the stars of the World Cup.

Cole was today named by coach Sven-Goran Eriksson in England’s 23-man squad for the finals in Korea and Japan and Roeder is confident his midfield maestro will prove a surprise package.

‘‘There is always one or two new faces or surprises at a World Cup, someone who goes into the finals and has a tournament which nobody was really expecting,’’ said Roeder.

‘‘You could make a case that Joe, at 20 years old, will be one of those players.

‘‘If you go back long enough to the days of black and white pictures, you will find Pele first made an impression at the age of 17 in the 1958 finals in Sweden.

‘‘At every World Cup you will probably find there was a young, fairly unknown player, who had a starring role in the tournament.’’

Cole is seen as Eriksson’s answer to the Gazza of 1990, but Roeder refused to compare the two men he knows particularly well.

He said: ‘‘Other people will compare Joe to Paul Gascoigne, but I don’t believe in comparing players from different eras. The only similarity in my opinion is that they both like to run with the ball.

‘‘Joe has played in all midfield positions for us this season - wide right, wide left, or in the centre in a 4-4-2. People said you cannot trust him in a 4-4-2 but he has proved them wrong because he is versatile.’’

But while Roeder celebrated the inclusion of the two Hammers players in Eriksson’s squad - Cole and goalkeeper David James - he also felt for Trevor Sinclair and Michael Carrick, who both missed out.

‘‘I’m delighted for David and Joe and delighted for the club,’’ said Roeder. ‘‘It is a great honour for the players and a great honour for this football club to have two players going to the World Cup.

‘‘David and Joe will be going there to play, as will every member of the 23-man squad. Players at this level are very driven, they are not going there to make up the numbers.

‘‘But I am very aware of the disappointment for Trevor and Michael. In the last few weeks Michael has become the forgotten man and in my opinion he will play for England many, many times in his long career.

‘‘We had four contenders for the squad and it would have been an unbelievable achievement for a club like ours to have got them all in, but I still view it as an achievement to get two in.

‘‘Trevor and Michael must not feel they have let anyone down. Michael is 20 and can still go to three World Cups.

‘‘As for Trevor, I have told him his goal now must be to make the European Championship in two years, because at 31 he’ll still at his very best.’’