32 Greatest footballers in the history of the English Premier League - Part 19
18. Michael Owen (Continued):
He has barely started for the English club but he usually comes on as a substitute for the former English Premier League Champions. He has appeared in only 21 Premier League games and has scored thrice.
While Michael Owen was busy playing and scoring goals at the club level, he was also a great success for the English national team. His talent was seen when he was only 18 years old and the English striker was taken in by the English under-20 squad. Even
though he appeared four times, he managed to find the net thrice. After looking at his great goal scoring form, Michael Owen was taken in by the England Under-21 side and appeared for them once against Bosnia and scored in that one match.
Michael Owen was taken by the English A team in 1998, when they went on to compete in the FIFA World Cup 1998. His amazing performance in the FIFA World Cup was a major reason for his fame around the world. He became a prominent striker for the English side
and the fans started buying his jerseys and supporting the “great goal scorer.” Michael Owen was not only a great goal scorer, he was also a scorer of great goals. His finishing ability during his prime time was simply unmatchable. Whether a chip shot from
20 yards out or a 40 yard bullet shoot, Michael Owen has accomplished it all.
After performing in the FIFA World Cup 1998, Michael Owen became a prominent figure for the English team and was selected for the Euro 2000. During the Euro 2000 he managed to appear in all 4 games that the English team played and scored 2 goals for them
to help them qualify for the next round but sadly the English team did not win the semi final against Germany and lost to the other European side.
Later, he joined the English team during the FIFA World Cup 2002. Throughout the World Cup campaign, Owen was never left out and he appeared in all the 12 fixtures that the English team played. He managed to score 5 goals in the 12 games that he played;
however, he started as a “first team player” 7 times.
His outstanding performance in the friendly matches during the year 2003 (5 goals in 9 games) earned him a spot in the Euro 2004. Despite such a good record in the friendly games, Michael Owen could not really perform well for them during the campaign of
the Euro 2004. The English team could not win the tournament as Owen found the net only once.
Michael has managed to grab 40 goals for the English side in only 89 appearances. He is the only player who has managed to score in four major tournaments for the English side. The English striker was also included in the FIFA World Cup 2006, but his injury
didn’t let him compete in a single match as he went out of the English squad for over a year.
Michael Owen’s long injury resulted in a dispute between FIFA and the FA and also his club Newcastle United. Eventually Newcastle received a compensation of 10 million pounds and it was Owen who helped the clubs as a new “agreement” was signed between the
national side and the club. The club was to be paid for the loss that it was going to suffer during the time the player was out for international duty.
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