Sandy's favourite footballer

Michael Owen - My most favourite footballer

Congratulations to Owen, Louise and their newly born baby girl!!

Owen visited HK with his Liverpool teammates at the end of July, 2003!

(terrific!!! Brilliant!!!)

Who's Michael Owen?

[extracted from the official website of the Liverpool Football Club - http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/team/squad/owen/)

Date of Birth:	14/12/1979
Squad: number:	10
Height:	5' 8
Weight:	10st 9lbs
Position:	Striker
1st team games:	268
1st team goals:	148
International caps:	53
International goals:	24
Characteristics:	A national hero at 18. Lightning fast, deadly finisher
Former clubs:	Trainee of Liverpool Football Club [http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/]
Birth Place:	Chester

Michael Owen scored on his debut for the Reds at Wimbledon in 1997 and hasn't looked back since.

The star of Liverpool's 1996 FA Youth Cup triumph, Michael has been with the club since a schoolboy and scored prolifically as he rose rapidly through the Anfield ranks.

During the summer of 1998 he achieved worldwide fame following his stunning strike in the World Cup second round clash between England against Argentina. Off the pitch he collected the PFA Young Player of the Year for season 1997-98 and in 1998 was also voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

It was in the treble season that Owen continued and enhanced his reputation in the treble season. He hit two goals against AS Roma in the UEFA Cup and followed that up with two magnificent late goals to win the FA Cup Final for Liverpool in Cardiff against Arsenal - a match which has since been called 'The Michael Owen Cup Final'. That just confirmed his standing as one of the most exciting strikers in Europe.

He followed that up by scoring a sensational hat-trick in England's 5-1 win over Germany, becoming the first England player since Sir Geoff Hurst in 1966 to score a hat-trick against Germany.

Michael was named European Footballer of the Year in December 2001 when he received the prestigious ballon D'or and scored his 100th Liverpool goal against West Ham at Upton Park on 29th December 2001.

Despite not being fully fit he starred for England in the 2002 World Cup. He scored two goals for England in the World Cup Finals against Denmark and Brazil, and won a vital penalty against Argentina.

In the 2002/03 season Owen scored 28 goals for Liverpool including his 100th in the Premiership with a hat-trick at West Bromwich Albion. Owen also scored at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff again when Liverpool beat Manchester United 2-0 to win the Worthington Cup.

He has now scored more goals for England than any other Liverpool player when he surpassed Anfield legend Roger Hunt.

Why do I like him?

Like many other fans, I was drawn attention to him during the World Cup 1998 in which he gained worldwide attention and fame by scoring that goal against Argentina, although England couldn't go further in the games on the penalty shootout. Later on, as I was able to watch the English Premiership on Cable TV, which was subscribed to partly because of its live broadcast of football games, I I started watching him play for Liverpool and admire his skills and personalities on and off the pitch.

What does he look like?

Michael and his Liverpool team-mates to Hong Kong in July 2003:

(Pictures from http://www.estarent.com)

At Training in HK	Warming up before the game against HKXI (1)	Warming up before the game against HKXI (2)
Warming up before the game against HKXI (3)	Team Photo (1)	Team Photo (2)
End of the game (1)	End of the game (2)	End of the game (3)
End of the game (4)