One of the great England players announced his retirement at the end of this season. Michael Owen is 33 and played for clubs such as Liverpool, Real Madrid, Newcastle United, Manchester United and Stoke.
Owen made his breakthrough in the 1998 World Cup when he made the England squad at the age of 18 and scored a memorable solo against Argentina. He also scored a hat-trick against Germany when England beat Germany with 5-1.
In the Premier League, Owen scored 220 Premier League goals and won Premier League, FA Cup, 3 League Cups and UEFA Cup. Owen came through the ranks of Liverpool where he played from 1996 to 2004. He helped the club win the League Cup, FA Cup and UEFA Cup in 2001 before leaving for Real Madrid for £8m. He stayed at Real for one season and became part of the “Galacticos” where he played with Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo, Roberto Carlos and Raul. Owen scored 14 goals in 40 games. He returned to England and joined Newcastle for £16m from 2005 to 2009 before moving to Manchester United in 2009. He joined Stoke City at the beginning of the season and scored one goal in seven matches.
Michael Owen said: “It is with an immense amount of pride that I am announcing my intention to retire. I have been very fortunate in that my career has taken me on a journey I could only have dreamed of.”
Michael Owen is certainly one of the great in English football and deserves to be remembered. Owen is the only English player who scored in four major international tournaments and is fourth on the all-time goalscoring list behind Sir Bobby Charlton, Gary Lineker and Jimmy Greaves. The FA is already looking into an Ambassador role.
