Michael Owen
Michael Owen
Michael James Owenis a former English footballer who played as a striker for Liverpool, Real Madrid, Newcastle United, Manchester United and Stoke City, as well as for the England national team. He is a regular pundit and co-commentator on BT Sport football coverage, and sometimes appears on BBC's Match of the Day as a pundit. Since retiring from football, he has become a successful racehorse breeder and owner...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionSoccer Player
Date of Birth14 December 1979
CityChester, England
The players are stunned because this is the worst thing that can happen to a footballer in his career. There will be scars for life.
We all had that in common and that was one of the main things we'd talk about out there.
I think England are probably not as streetwise as plenty of other teams. The other top teams know how to keep a victory or do certain things to hang on to leads or get back in games. They're a lot more streetwise than us. I think as a nation we are very honest, we try to win the right way.
If you look at anyone at the top of their profession, there has to be something a little bit different. Some of the top musicians are quirky aren't they, to say the least. You have to be driven, cold, hard and mentally tough as iron. My missus thinks I'm a bit weird.
I was born to score goals, I feel. How I score them - how I get the ball into the back of the net - might have changed. The actual ability of what I was born to do will never leave me.
I have been very fortunate in that my career has taken me on a journey I could only have dreamed of.
The way I look at myself, the biggest achievement in my eyes - forget winning trophies or scoring in World Cups - is that I'm still at a top club playing at a really high standard having been almost two different players.
There are pitfalls in World Cups, there are players who can win penalties and players who get the slightest touch and go down holding their face or whatever and get someone sent off. There are all these little things and you're hoping that you're not on the wrong end of it.
If I'd still been in one piece from the World Cup and gone through my career, what type of player would I have been? No doubt about it, if I hadn't had as many injuries I would have been the all-time leading scorer for England.
I've got no hamstring in the middle. I'm basically running on two hamstrings on my right leg and three on the other. That injury has probably changed my whole career. I've been compromised from the age of 19.
I joined Twitter and you read a lot of the comments. You're biting your lip and you want to reply but you know a headline will be made from it and you don't want to give people the satisfaction.
To breed a winner, let alone at Royal Ascot, is unbelievable. I've got four children and they all love the mother. We pat it most days and she's a lovely mare.
I've always wanted to be a top footballer since I was young.
My kids are one, three, five and eight, and we are all horsey. The kids have got their ponies and can ride. Our foundation mare is special to our hearts. She was one of my first ever horses. She was my first ever winner at Chester, which is also special, and she's just the apple of our eyes, really.