Owen Has New Goals in Mind
Michael Owen was a mere lad of 18 when he scored England’s most celebrated World Cup goal since Geoff Hurst’s controversial extra-time winner in the 1966 final against West Germany.
Why, and how, it is celebrated says all one needs to know about England’s experience in the World Cup over the last 36 years.
In only his second World Cup start, in the 1998 second round against Argentina, Owen and the shot that made his reputation appeared to emerge from nowhere--a blur of white against a sea of Argentine blue, darting past and around some of the most savvy defenders in the tournament, before Owen delivered on the run, driving the ball hard past startled keeper Carlos Roa.
London’s Daily Telegraph described the goal as “a golden footballing moment that had grown men on their knees howling, believing for a brief and shining instant that England was truly a great footballing nation again.”
Two years later, Owen told the Telegraph that the shot “changed my life, it changed the way people saw me. Every football fan remembers exactly where they were.... They tell me exactly what they were doing at the time and how they will never forget that.”
One thing about that goal and that game:
Without it, England would have lost in regulation, sparing itself the tease of extra time and the agony of being eliminated in a penalty-kick shootout.
Yes, the greatest English goal of the last eight World Cups came in a losing effort.
In a game that ended in penalties, the same way England lost to West Germany in the 1990 semifinals.
In a game against Argentina, the same country that ended England’s 1986 World Cup with Diego Maradona’s infamous “Hand of God” goal.
In a game that finished without David Beckham on the field. Beckham, England’s best midfielder then and now, was red-carded in the 47th minute, forcing his teammates to forge ahead short-handed for 75 more minutes.
It was a gallant, lion-hearted performance in defeat, the kind of thing at which England has come to excel. Four years later, England readies for another World Cup with Beckham questionable for the opener--he’s recovering from a broken foot--and Argentina awaiting in the second group game, casting a dark shadow over England’s hopes of progressing far in the tournament.
In fact, the course of the 2002 World Cup could hinge on the June 7 England-Argentina match in Sapporo. To the winner of Group F goes a second-round match against the likes of Denmark or Senegal, followed possibly by a quarterfinal encounter with Turkey or Belgium. In other words, a berth in the final four is there for the taking.
Finish second in Group F, however, and this is the probable road ahead: defending champion France in the second round, Brazil in the quarters. In other words, don’t unpack all your bags.
Until Beckham’s return, the captain’s armband has gone to Owen, all of 22 now. If the goal against Argentina announced his arrival as a striker with world-class potential, Owen’s 2000-2001 season removed all doubt. In leading Liverpool to titles in the English League Cup, the F.A. Cup and the UEFA Cup, Owen was named European player of the year and World Soccer magazine’s world player of the year.
At the same time, he helped trigger England’s bottom-to-top rise in its World Cup qualification group by scoring a hat trick last September against Germany in a 5-1 victory in Munich.
Owen is back at the World Cup, but he hardly recognizes the place. This time last Cup, he was little more than a rumor, used only as a substitute in England’s first two matches by a coach, Glenn Hoddle, who considered Owen too callow and--an opinion he will never live down--not a natural goal scorer.
Long gone is the element of surprise. Argentina won’t be caught flatfooted again by the kid in the No. 10 shirt with the face going on 15. Today, Owen doesn’t travel as lightly. He arrives in Japan toting a heavy piece of baggage known as expectation.
Talking with reporters before a recent tuneup match against South Korea, Owen acknowledged that “When you come on the scene as an 18-year-old, you are not expected to do anything and you are in a win-win situation. You can make a name for yourself.
“It’s a different type of pressure now.... It’s a difficult group we are in, and I don’t think goals will be easy to come by. But as long as they are important goals, I don’t mind.”
England, Argentina and the rest of the world will be settling in to see what the kid comes up with for an encore.
“When you have come back and just score a great goal,” Owen said, “the next question is: Are you going to do something else, or will it be just that goal?
“I wouldn’t change that goal for the world. It was a great moment and something I will never forget. But if you want to get to the top of in any profession, you do not just score one goal in a World Cup against Argentina. You have got to keep going.”
