Biography
The football idol Michael Owen was born on December 14, 1979. This Chester-born talent stunned everybody with his genius at the young age of eleven when he scored as many as seventy-nine goals to break the previous record at Deeside Primary School.
Michael joined Liverpool, on December 18 1996, straight away from the juniors itself. His Anfield stay lasted till 2004.
Michael made his debut as an English football team member on February 11, 1998 in a match against Chile. He scored his premiere goal for England, playing against Morocco, on May 27, 1998. But this eighteen year-old footballer really came to the limelight when he scored a magical goal for England in the 1988 World Cup in the match against Argentina.
The year 2001 was a very successful year for Michael Owen as he played an extremely significant role in the three prestigious wins that Liverpool clinched, namely, the League Cup, FA Cup and Eufa Cup. This was also the year when Michael scored a hat-trick in the World Cup qualifier that England played against Germany. England ended up winning this decisive qualifier 5-1.
2001 saw Michael win the esteemed titles of “European Footballer of the Year” and “Football Writers’ Player of the Year” for his brilliant performance.
Michael Owen has had numerous injuries throughout his career. His ability to convert half-chances was missing during his last year at Liverpool. He missed a number of penalties. It was disappointingly evident that the genius footballer had lost some of his signature agility and sharpness.
He joined the Spanish club, Real Madrid, in August 2004 and shared the dressing room with his England teammate David Beckham.
In August 2005, Michael joined Newcastle United. This club transfer was worth a record fee that exceeded £15 million. Michael struck his premiere goal for the Magpies in September 2005 at Blackburn when Newcastle ended up winning 3-0. Michael was in good touch, while playing for Newcastle, but soon faced another injury.
The foot injury that he suffered on the New Year’s Eve of 2005 did not keep him away from the 2006 World Cup. Though he was considerably fit to get a place in the World Cup team, his performance did not look up to the mark and thus he had to face substitution in the opening games that England played. Then a knee-ligament rupture during the match against Sweden made him miss the remaining World Cup matches.
This injury saw him miss a considerable part of the 2006-2007 football season. However, his admirers were happy to see him play for Newcastle on April 30, 2007, in the match agaisnt Reading.
Micahel had married Louise Bonsall on June 2005 and they have a daughter and a son.
