Michael Owen - International Career

International Career

Owen had a highly successful record at Youth level, playing for the England under-20 team at the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship and scoring three goals in four games. He was only briefly a member of the England under-21 team (netting on his only appearance in a win over Greece under-21 at Carrow Road) before he made his début for the senior team in a 2–0 friendly loss to Chile on 11 February 1998. Playing in this game made Owen the youngest player to represent England in the 20th century at 18 years and 59 days of age.

Owen's youthful enthusiasm, pace and talent made him a popular player across the country, and many fans were keen for him to be made a regular player for the team ahead of that year's World Cup. His first goal for England, against Morocco in another friendly game prior to the tournament, further enhanced his reputation. The goal also made him the youngest ever player to have scored for England, until his record was surpassed by Wayne Rooney in 2003.

Although he was selected for the World Cup squad by manager Glenn Hoddle, he was left on the bench as a substitute in the first two games. However, his substitute appearance in the second game, a 2–1 defeat to Romania, saw him score a goal and hit the post with another shot, almost salvaging a point from the game. After that, Hoddle played him from the start, and in England's second round match against Argentina he scored a sensational individual goal after beating defenders Roberto Ayala and José Chamot before striking the ball just outside the penalty box.

England drew that match and went out of the tournament on penalties, but Owen had sealed his place as an England choice and his popularity in the country had increased greatly. At the end of the year, he won a public vote to be elected winner of the prestigious BBC Sports Personality of the Year title.

He has since played for England in Euro 2000, the 2002 World Cup and Euro 2004, scoring goals in all three tournaments. This makes him the only player ever to have scored in four major tournaments for England. He also became one of only a handful of England players to appear in three World Cup tournaments when he played at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, although he did not score and was injured in the final group game.

In April 2002, he was named as England's captain for a friendly match against Paraguay in place of the injured regular captain David Beckham. Owen was the youngest England skipper since Bobby Moore in 1963, and in the following few seasons regularly captained England during any absence of the regular captain. Owen made his debut for the England national B-team in a friendly against Belarus on 25 May 2006, as part of his return to match fitness ahead of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He captained England B in this game, playing for 61 minutes before being substituted.

Owen started England's first two games of the 2006 World Cup, against Paraguay and Trinidad and Tobago, but did not manage to score. After playing only 51 seconds of his third appearance of the tournament, and 80th cap, in the 2006 World Cup against Sweden, Owen badly twisted his right knee and was forced to leave the match on a stretcher. A scan of the injury on 21 June confirmed that Owen had torn the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee, and was sent home, no longer able to play in the tournament.

Owen underwent successful reconstruction surgery, carried out by Dr. Richard Steadman, on 6 September 2006. The injury sidelined him until April 2007, meaning he missed England's first six matches in qualifying for Euro 2008. He returned for the England B game against Albania, and was named in the full squad for the games against Brazil and Estonia, with Owen stating "I feel sharp and, if given the chance, I feel confident when in front of goal." He played in both matches and scored against Estonia, breaking Gary Lineker's record for most goals in competitive internationals for England. Owen's latest international efforts include a brace for England in a 3–0 win over Russia on 12 September 2007.

With his two goals against Russia, he became the first player to score international goals at both the old and new Wembley Stadiums. As of 26 August 2008, Owen has been capped 89 times for England and scored 40 goals: he is fourth in the list of all-time top scorers for the England team, behind Bobby Charlton (49 goals), Gary Lineker (48) and Jimmy Greaves (44). He has also scored a record 26 goals for England in competitive matches (World Cup and European Championship games and the qualifiers for those tournaments) and has been captain for England in 7 matches.

As of December 2007, Owen has never gone more than four international games in a row without scoring a goal. Owen's future as first choice striker for England is uncertain however, due to competition from Manchester United's Wayne Rooney and fast-developing Theo Walcott amongst others. Owen's lack of action in Fabio Capello's first two England friendlies and Capello's selection of a single striker 4-5-1 formation also support the view that Owen's international opportunities may in future be limited.

2008 was a tough year for Owen as he was excluded from World Cup qualifiers against Andorra, Croatia, Kazakhstan and Belarus despite at times being in good goalscoring form and having a good workrate in a poor Newcastle side.

He was once again left out of the squad for the friendly against Germany in November 2008, despite forwards Emile Heskey and Wayne Rooney being unavailable for the match. However, Capello stated in November 2008 that Owen could still be reinstated to the side at some point in the future.

In March 2009, Owen admitted that all injuries he was sustaining were relating back to his injury in the 2006 World Cup tournament, and that he should not have attended the competition.

Owen's chances of an international recall deteriorated when Capello announced he would only be picked if he was playing regularly. In February 2010, having been used mainly as a substitute by United, he described his chances of a recall as "probably a long shot in racing terms". On 28 February, he suffered a hamstring injury in the League Cup final and was ruled out for the rest of the season. As a result, he did not make the squad for the World Cup in South Africa that summer.

In March 2010, Owen claimed that he no longer thinks about adding to his 89 England caps.