February 11 – Michael Owen Takes a Bow

NOWADAYS his name’s never mentioned without the prefix ‘injury-prone’ but in the run-up to France ’98 ‘next big thing’ was the way that Michael Owen was being described, as the fresh-faced 18-year old made his England debut today in 1998 against Chile, becoming the youngest ever England player of the twentieth century.

As a youngster Owen broke all kinds of records as he rapidly rose up the ranks. He was one of the most promising students at the FA School of Excellence in Lilleshall and the media got on his case early, meaning by the time he entered the international arena we all knew all about the young striker. Unlike his Liverpool and England under-21 debuts he didn’t find the net as Chile ran out 2-0 winners at Wembley. His first goal didn’t take too long as he scored against Morocco in a warm-up match for the ’98 World Cup, where he would score one of the greatest goals ever seen in an England shirt against Argentina.

Back then, the young Owen was a completely different type of striker, as his main weapon was his lightening-fast acceleration that would scare the life out of hardened centre-backs across the Premiership. Like us though, he isn’t as skinny as he used to be, as injuries have forced him to bulk up so that his rubbish hamstrings don’t go every couple of months.

Since his England debut he has since gone on to rack up 40 goals in his 88 appearances and if not for his horrible injury record he’d surely have broken Bobby Charlton’s England goal-scoring record by now. Only being 28, he still has time on his side, but now it’s in the hands of Don Fabio, who didn’t give him a run-out in last week’s friendly with Switzerland. Being at Newcastle, the graveyard of so many careers, may or may not help, but the lad’s a born goalscorer so we certainly won’t be betting against him.

See that famous goal for the 1,056th time below and make sure you come back tomorrow for more reminiscing about the beautiful game.