MAURICIO Pochettino has hailed “special” Luke Shaw after the youngster put himself in the World Cup frame for England.

Saints boss Pochettino was at Wembley to watch Shaw make his England debut in the second half of the friendly win over Denmark.

He was delighted with the performance of his teenage left back and praised his calmness and quality.

He said: “It’s clear that Luke Shaw is someone special.“ You see other 18-yearold lads and they’re at home, going to school, not really doing much, whereas Luke Shaw is playing at Wembley.

“That’s an important thing and shows he is special.”

He added: “I thought it was an amazing moment for him, for Southampton Football Club in general and especially all the managers and directors he’s had in the academy.

“To see a child from tenyears- old to making his international debut has to be a moment of great satisfaction and of great pride.

“I think it was about his tranquillity, his calm, and he showed he played in the same way he does at St Mary’s in the Premier League.

“I think he does have his chances.

“I think the four players that were called up have very good chances to be on the plane to Brazil but they need to maintain their form and their fitness from now until the final list is given.

“If they are able to then I think the four of them do have a very good chance of being on the plane to Brazil.”

Adam Lallana also impressed in the game while Jay Rodriguez and Rickie Lambert didn’t get on the pitch but were in the squad.

England boss Roy Hodgson now has a tough call as to whether to take Ashley Cole or Shaw with him to Brazil.

“I think Roy Hodgson has a very big problem on his hands,” smiled Pochettino.

“I don’t know what is going through Roy’s mind at the moment regarding Luke Shaw but in light of the 45 minutes he played he showed he deserves to be in the team and has the quality to be in the team.”

Pochettino is keen to harness the happy vibe in the camp following the international successes of the last week.

“I think there’s very good positives,” he said.

“One of them is the adrenaline of being called up to the English national side and making sure that that energy is contagious within the group and passing that on to the group.“Also the experience you get for playing for the national side is very good.

“We need to balance that out with the physical and mental stress that is being part of the English national side and also the fact that you are more inexperienced so you don’t know exactly what happens and I think it’s very good that the players know themselves how to manage that situation.

“We have been talking about the balance you need to have from playing at Wembley to returning to play in the league.

“The more experienced players know how to transition between the two, the more inexperienced might take a little bit longer.

“We have experienced players that can teach them.”