Manchester United striker Michael Owen hoping for a recall to England national squad
Michael Owen, the forgotten Manchester United striker, has not given up hopes of playing for England once again.
The 30-year old has not been able to feature much in the national squad since Fabio Capello took over more than 3 years ago.
The former Liverpool striker did feature once for England under Capello; that was in March 2008. It was 3 months after the Italian took over the England team. Owen still believes that he can be of some service to the national team after recovering from a groin injury.
The England team has been in good form recently and won both Euro 2012 qualifiers against Bulgaria and Switzerland. Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney, Tottenham’s Jermain Defoe, Glen Johnson and Darren Bent have all been ahead in the pecking order as far as the national team is concerned.
Michael Owen was involved in a Q&A session at Old Trafford that is part of Man United’s education initiative. While talking to the media there, he said that he would love to once again put on the England jersey and serve his country.
Owen said that he has made 89 appearances for England, and has been part of the England team since he was 18.
The former Newcastle player said that he has been part of the England setup ever since the 1998 World Cup, and it was only in 2008 that he fell out of favour. He said that with such experience in the national team, he still has a shot of making it back once again.
Michael Owen has been plagued with several injuries in the last few seasons, but said that he is back to full fitness and does get to the training ground 45 minutes before the scheduled time.
The 30-year old said that despite several injuries, he has been able to get enough games in the last few years. He said that reflecting back at the last 3 years, he feels that injuries have come at the wrong time for him, but he still has at least 4-5 years of football left in him and can do a lot for both club and country.
Owen said that he makes his way to the training ground at 9 in the morning, and starts his training. Owen added that he checks with the team physio and gets to training with the rest of the squad.
Michael Owen left Liverpool in 2005 and signed for Real Madrid; however, he did not have the best of times in Spain. He did score some goals whenever he got the chance, but constant injuries meant that he was not able to play too much first-team football. Owen was later signed by Premier League club Newcastle United but the injuries continued to haunt him. After 3 torturous years at St James Park, he ended his contract at Newcastle and signed for Manchester United as a free agent.
Michael did get some games at the start of his United career, and scored the all-important winning goal in the 4-3 win against Manchester City. He once again suffered an injury in the Carling Cup final while at Wembley last year in April, and has been out of action since.
Manchester United take on Everton on Saturday. Considering his Liverpool roots, Owen said that he would love to be part of the team against the old Merseyside rivals. Wayne Rooney would be fresh from the Euro 2012 qualifiers and Owen is expected to get a look-in this weekend.
Manchester United has got 7 points this season from 3 games. The Red Devils beat West Ham and Newcastle at home but lost 2 points when they drew 2-2 against Fulham at Craven Cottage.
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