Michael Owen
What’s the best goal you’ve ever scored? Apart from the ones against Argentina in the 1998 World Cup, of course...
Pete Simpson, Liverpool
I scored a brilliant one for England U15s at St James’ Park. We were playing Scotland and I remember they had just equalised to bring the game to 1-1. I was standing on the centre spot for the kick-off, the ball was tapped to me and that was it, I was off. I beat about four people and put it past the keeper. Sky were televising it too, so I got to see it afterwards. We ended up winning the game 2-1 and won the Victory Shield as well, so it was quite a good night, all in all.
A hat-trick against the Germans on their own turf: can you explain what went through your mind when the third went in?
Hanners, Bromley
It was amazing. The first was very different from the third because it was the equaliser and I thought, “Yes, we’re back in the game!”. Plus I knew at that moment that we could beat them. The second was great and the third was the icing on the cake. A hat-trick in any international is tough, but it’s particularly hard against a team like Germany. It was one of my best moments in an England jersey. It’s also a moment that most England fans can really look back on and feel a sense of pride. That was a great occasion and it was as about exciting as it gets for a footballer.
How long after you joined Real Madrid did you realise that certain players were undroppable – or were you aware of that before you went?
Stuart Staves, Guildford
I wouldn’t say players were undroppable, but you didn’t want to give anyone an excuse to drop you. I think I went on a run where I scored for seven games on the spin. Then in the next game I didn’t score for 55 minutes and I was taken off. I was on the bench for the next game. [Laughs] That just shows you how difficult it is. My time in Madrid was better than most people make out.
I started a lot more games than the ones where I came on as sub, though a lot was made of the time I’d spent on the bench. I think I was more involved than most of the players in the squad that season – even the goalkeeper. But playing in Spain was an eye-opener for me, that’s for sure. I played in a lot of different stadiums against some fantastic players and the fans were great. I had a really good relationship with the fans. I loved it and I wouldn’t have changed my time there for anything, but I definitely wanted to come back to the Premiership – it’s a league that I enjoy.
How did you spend your time between training and games in Madrid? Did you socialise with Becks a lot?
Simon, Madrid
Yeah, I did. It was good that we had each other there – we’re mates, we’re English speaking and we get on well. It actually took us longer to learn Spanish because we could get away with talking English with one another, though I could speak a bit of Spanish to get by. And there was Woody [Jonathan Woodgate] as well, so there were a few of us out there. We would go out for meals together – it’s a country for dining out really.
The restaurants are good, the food is fantastic. You can go to a restaurant, have a meal and chat away over a glass of wine into the early – or the late – hours of the morning. It’s difficult in a way because it’s hard to get babysitters and it’s hard to get to know the other lads because you don’t talk the language, but it was a great experience.
How did you feel when you watched Liverpool winning the Champions League Final against AC Milan?
Joey Voce, Crosby
I was watching it in my living room in Madrid with the wife. The kids were upstairs asleep. At 3-0 down I thought they were dead and buried, but once they came back into it after an hour you knew they had it in them. Funny thing was, I was probably the last to text them all, wishing them good luck, and the first to text them with congratulations. We’re still all good mates. Stevie Gerrard, Jamie Carragher and Dietmar Hamann – while he was still there – were my big friends at the club.
I was speaking to them all after the game. I was so pleased for them. And yeah, you do think, What if I was there? What could I have done for them during the game? But I’m not one to look back with regrets. Winning the European Cup is something that I want to do in my career. I’m not jealous, but I’d love to do it. Another part of you also thinks, ‘I’ve been there all that time and I never won it and then I leave and they win’. [Laughs] Proves that I’m crap, really! But seriously, it was great for the lads. I was there for the semi-final against Chelsea and that was a great game as well.
What is the truth behind the whole ‘Will he, won’t he return to Anfield?’ saga before you moved to Newcastle?
David Owens, Telford
It was real. I spoke to the chief executive Rick Parry and I was in Liverpool with Rafa Benitez and we were pretty close to agreeing things. The main issue was Real Madrid and Liverpool settling on a deal and they couldn’t agree a fee – plus Newcastle were quite aggressive in their offer to Madrid. So Madrid felt that Liverpool weren’t matching their valuation of me and I thought it would be good to go to Newcastle.
It was a World Cup year and I wanted to be playing, plus Madrid had bought two more strikers, so I went to St James’ Park and thought it was great. It’s a very similar place to Liverpool in a lot of ways – especially the people, who are football mad. I thought that, as much as it would have been great to go back to Liverpool, going to Newcastle would be just as enjoyable an experience.
How accurate is the newspaper coverage of your life and what’s the most outrageous story that’s ever been written about you?
Rich Evans, Glasgow
I’d say that 90 percent of stories about you are part true. I’ve had millions that have been written about me that are wrong. Recently, someone found out that I was taking a helicopter up to Newcastle and the next story was about how ‘Freddie Shepherd is on collision course with Michael Owen over his pilot lessons’, or something. I wouldn’t even dream of trying to learn, but I like sitting in the back and reading the papers.
It’s like that, though, and you soon get used to it. Anything you do, anything you buy or anywhere you’re seen, they’ll get some story out of it. They always get half of the story right and the other half completely wrong. I don’t bother getting the hump with it any more – I’m long past that. I used to think, ‘Who wrote that bad story about me?’ but then you calm down. I’ve got kids and stuff now, so I’m more sensible. And who’s bothered if a few thousand people think that Michael Owen is doing this and that? Denying it only fuels the story, so it’s better to ignore it.
Your face was etched with a slow motion look of horror when you went down during the Sweden match at the World Cup in Germany. What went through your mind?
Dave Moone, Raynes Park
To start with I thought, ‘That’s me finished in the game and the World Cup’. I knew it was bad straightaway. After that you think about what you need to do. Once that’s done you’re thinking about how long you’re going to be out and what games you’re going to miss. Weirdly you then start feeling sorry for all your family who have flown out to see you, and your sponsors.
Newcastle had only just got me back fit after breaking my foot and I’d only played one game for them, then I got injured and was going to be out for most, if not all, of the next season. Football’s a big business and if I don’t play then there are investments from clubs and sponsors and different things involved. I actually found myself in the treatment room texting everyone to apologise for getting injured, even though it was just a freak incident.
When you get an injury do you lose a yard of pace because you’re worried about having a recurrence if you’re running at full speed?
G Parry, via e-mail
If it’s muscular, yeah. One of the things I’m doing with this current injury is making sure that all my past injuries are over and done with and rehabilitated. Obviously I had problems with my hamstrings when I was young and they take their toll – your muscles weaken every time you pull one. So this is a good opportunity to strengthen everything up again. And I’m adamant that I’m going to come back as strong and as sharp as when I was 18 or 19. Since then, as with every hamstring injury, you probably lose half a yard, but this time I’m working to get back to where I was when I was younger.
Life after football: manager, TV analyst or horse trainer?
Joe 90, via e-mail
All three are possibilities. I’d love to be in touch with the game as a manager or a coach, or even writing newspaper articles or talking on the telly. Football’s been a massive part of my life so I’d love to stay involved. Horses are a big passion too, so I’ll be out on the gallops most days, but I can’t see myself wanting to be a racehorse trainer. I don’t want to be getting up at five in the morning, dealing with problems and looking after 100 owners. That’s not my idea of a peaceful retirement.
From the March 2007 issue of FFT