Before Steven Gerrard was king of Liverpool there was Michael Owen and he reigned over the Reds as the best player on the most successful team from the late '90s into the mid 2000s.
I think most American fans like myself remember Owen for his brilliant goal as a teenager against Argentina in the 1998 World Cup. Taking the ball in stride with an incredible show of skill, the short-statured forward preceded to blow by his defender take and beat the Argentina's last defender before showing the moxy to finish off the play despite Paul Scholes standing in the ready. It was one of the goals of the tournament
The problem for Owen throughout his career though has been bad timing and injuries. Owen has suffered chronic hamstring issues and in the 2006 World Cup tore his ACL in England's final group stage match, which eventually led to Newcastle recouping the biggest settlement ever from a country to a club team.
In 2004 Owen left Liverpool and went to Real Madrid for a better chance to win the Champions League. Although Owen scored at the highest clip per appearance of any player in La Liga that season, he was often relegated to the bench or a subbing role. And to add salt to the wound, Liverpool would go on to win the Champions League title later that season in one of the most dramatic and memorable games of all time coming from down 3-0 at halftime to AC Milan before ripping them apart for three goals in the second half and winning in a shootout.
But Owen has often been left out of the mix at the national team level since Fabio Capello took over as England manager, and the 30-year-old forward appears to have played his final world cup match for England. This past week Owen suffered a recurrence of the hamstring problem that will require surgery and keep him out for Manchester United for the rest of the season as well as ruling him out for the World Cup.
It's tough to say Owen wasted his talents, but the guy never lived up to all the promise he displayed in that breath-taking Argentina game in '98 or the fabulous form he showed at Liverpool from 1996-04.
the top three goals are sick
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