When Terry Dixon packs his bag for the Republic of Ireland's training camp in Portugal next week, his mother, Marion, will make sure he has remembered all the essentials: boots, shin-pads and, most important of all, his Maths and English textbooks. Her son may just have completed one of the most remarkable ascents to international football in Ireland's history, but she will not let that get in the way of his studies.

Dixon will sit his GCSEs later this month, but for the time being he is relishing a different sort of examination - one involving Robbie Keane, Damien Duff and Shay Given. The 16-year-old Tottenham forward was the most surprising name on Steve Staunton's 29-man list for the four-day camp announced on Monday, but perhaps this is a portent of things to come.

Players used to graduate from their clubs to their countries, but now they appear to do the opposite: Dixon's call-up came on the same day that Theo Walcott, older by just a year, was elevated to the England squad despite having never played for Arsenal. Dixon, for his part, has yet to feature for Spurs' reserves, let alone their first team, and will not even join the academy until July. Needless to say, his head is still spinning.

"I was at school when my mate sent me a text saying it had been announced on Sky Sports News," he said. "I was gobsmacked and my phone just started going crazy. But now I'm more excited: to be honest, I'm more nervous about my GCSEs than about training with such good players. It'll be great to be with the Irish squad and I'd love to get a chance to play."

Dixon has already impressed for Ireland's under-17s, but his sights are fixed on more prestigious targets. The senior side play a friendly with Chile on May 29th and, though Staunton claimed on Monday Dixon's inclusion was merely designed to "show him what we're all about", he is understood to want to accelerate his protege into first-team duties in order to deflect interest from England. Dixon is qualified to play for both countries; Marion hails from Bailieborough, Co Cavan, and Terry's father, Darren, is a Londoner.

"Ireland gave Terry his first international chance when they called him up for an under-16 game against Sweden," said Darren. "England never called so he just carried on. I must admit, I was surprised by that because he's been known by people in the game since he was under 14.

"I watched England pick boys nowhere near as good as Terry. It was a mystery to me, but it never bothered him - he just loved playing for Ireland. He says he feels Irish so I suppose I'll have to keep him away from the Guinness in a couple of years."

Dixon should find avoiding that pitfall easy enough, having grown up in Wood Green, a poverty-stricken suburb of north-east London where crime and unemployment are rife. Football has offered an escape route but many of his friends have not been so lucky.

"It is a tough area to grow up in and there's a lot of crime," he said. "I know a lot of friends who have been in trouble with the law but, luckily, I never had the time for any of that as I was always too busy with my training and stuff. Had I not become so involved with football then it might have been a different story."

He has been fortunate, too, to play for a club who realise the importance of giving youth its chance. Martin Jol, the Tottenham manager, has made a point of flooding his squad with young, English-speaking talent and the results have been spectacular. Spurs missed out on qualification for the Champions League last Sunday because of a combination of dodgy tummies and dodgier defending at West Ham, but consolation, of sorts, came the following day when four players - Paul Robinson, Michael Carrick, Aaron Lennon and Jermaine Jenas - were named in England's squad for Germany. The Seven Sisters Road has become a fast track to international recognition.

Dixon will take the first steps on his own journey next week, although he was at least given a taste of what to expect by being called to train with Spurs' first team last week.

"It was hard, but I really enjoyed it," he admitted. "I've been a Spurs supporter all my life. When I was growing up my hero was David Ginola because of the way he used to skip past people. Now I like Wayne Rooney for his power and his heart."

Dixon's barrel chest and stocky physique are reminiscent of the bullish Rooney, but for the time being he will have to make do with comparisons with Walcott, in itself no bad thing.

"I've never played against Walcott because he's older than me, but I'm glad he's been given a chance in a major tournament," he said. "He gives hope to the rest of us trying to make it in the game."