Focus on: Michael Owen

Michael Owen is one of the biggest names in English football and he is also one of the greatest footballers England has produced. He has been a prolific performer for England and he is a very established and successful striker. He has led the English side in the World Cup which is one of the biggest sporting events in the world. Michael Owen hails from Chester, England and he is the son of Terry Owen who was an established footballer himself. He was born on the 14th of December 1979. He began playing football at the tender age of 7 years and his knack for the game was spotted by his father and he wanted him to become a professional footballer.

Michael went to the Deeside Primary School and he played soccer at the school level also and then he moved on to Hawarden High school. He has had a very successful amateur career and then he decided to go professional and he then joined the famed English club Liverpool. He enjoyed a very successful stint with Liverpool and he even got selected for the national squad. He has been instrumental in the success of the side and in his very first season with the senior Liverpool side, he became the top scorer in the Premier League and even scored a hat-trick in that opening season. The following 1998-99 season was even better for him and he scored 23 goals in just 40 matches. By this time Michael Owen has become a matured player and he got offers from the other big clubs as well.

Michael Owen has been instrumental in many cup victories for Liverpool especially in the 2000 season when Liverpool won the FA cup and the UEFA cup. In that same season he was also instrumental in defeating Germany as England thrashed Germany 5-1 and Owen scored a hat-trick in that match.

After his stint with Liverpool, he signed Real Madrid for a whopping 8 million pounds but his stint was short and he later moved on to Manchester united. He has often played as a reserve for Manchester United since the side already had some of the best striker in the world playing for them.

Michael Owen will be remembered for his dedication towards the game and his determination more than anything else that helped him win games for his side. He never knew what defeat was and would never give up until the final whistle blew. He has been a prolific performer for England and has been one of the most successful footballers that the country has produced. Liverpool also will be forever indebted to him as the club saw its biggest and most successful season when he was playing for the side. He has also made many important contributions and has scored key goals in important matches for Manchester United as well.

He had also enjoyed a very successful stint with the English club of Newcastle where he was a key figure in the entire line up.

Pele Backs New God

Football God Pele believes he has found the next in line to the football throne, back in his native Brazil.  Whilst everyone from Barcelona and Argentina relentlessly support Lionel Messi as the World’s Best footballer, Pele and his Brazilian counterparts believe that new-boy Neymar will soon take his place.

Neymar is still regarded as a little known talent, even though he has led the Brazil U21 team to Copa America glory, and his performances at club level have left both commentators and fans confounded, and opposition defenders on their bottoms!  Because he still plys his trade for Santos (the biggest club in his homeland, but far from a big club on the world stage) he has been overlooked by many of the people who nominate players for the FIFA Ballon D’Or Award.

Lionel Messi has been at the top of his game for the last two seasons, scoring goals for fun, and racking up an impressive ratio that is close to a goal per game.  Admittedly many of the goals are coming against distinctly average and inferior teams in the Primera Liga, but to score with such consistency proves that he is an amazing talent.  Having led Barcelona to the Champions League title once more, it’s widely expected that he will be given a record-breaking third consecutive Ballon D’Or.

Whilst Pele accepts Neymar isn’t quite up to Messi’s standards yet, he believes he isn’t far off.  “Fans talk about Maradona and Messi, but we have Neymar, who will be a great player with the skills he has!  He is very skilled, the best on his team.  The only thing he has to learnt o do better is defend himself against defenders – other than that he has everything – pace, power, shooting, passing, control, you name it!”