Owen Hargreaves Messages delivered but no guaranteed response

Team(s):

Date of Birth:	Tuesday, January 20, 1981
Birth Place:	England
Height:	180cm
Position:	Midfielder
Former Clubs/Teams:	FC Bayern München

Biography

Owen Hargreaves is a midfielder for England and Manchester United in the English Premier League. He is renowned for his stamina and industry on the pitch – and won over the England fans with his never-say-die attitude and constant running. He became the first player to play for England without having played English league football, but now plays for the English champions.

Childhood

Owen Hargreaves was born on 20th January 1981, in Calgary, in Western Canada. He was the son of a former footballer, and played football with his two older brothers and their friends – something that taught his to fear anyone, regardless of their size, on the football pitch. His brother went on to represent Canada at university level, but there were greater things on Owen’s horizon. He was invited for a trial with Bayern Munich because one of his coaches had links with the German club. At just 16 years old, Owe left his homeland for Germany, and became an integral member of their U-19 squad.

Early Career

Hargreaves progressed through the youth ranks at Bayern Munich – often playing in higher age-group teams to ensure he was challenged. He played for the Bayern Munich Reserves in 1999/00 and impressed sufficiently to be given his debut in August 2000 – aged 19.

Whilst Owen played only a fringe-role during his first season at the club, he helped the team to win a historic league and Champions League double. He became a first-team regular, with his efficiency and maturity on the ball belying his young age.

Three more Bundesliga trophies followed, along with 3 DFB Cups (FA Cup equivalent), before Owen started to think about moving to England. A broken leg and various niggling injuries kept him out of the Bayern first-team, but because of his stunning performances for England, there were no shortage of English clubs interested in signing him.

Current Club

Owen Hargreaves signed for Manchester United on 31st May 2007 for £17m. After almost a year of negotiating, Sir Alex Ferguson finally got him man. Hargreaves was to add some bite to the midfield of Paul Scholes, Michael Carrick and Ryan Giggs. His willingness to stay back would allow his more attacking team-mates to venture further forwards, and create chances.

Hargreaves’ career continued to be dogged by injury, and whilst he made his debut in the derby match against Man City in August 2007, he struggled to remain fit enough to stay in the team on a regular basis. His contribution stretched to 15 games, but his tackling ability had helped United become champions of the Premier League and Champions League.

What should have been a more consistent second season at the club was ruined by recurring knee-injuries that stopped Owen from training. Operations on both knees should have solved the tendonitis problem, but his season was over.

International

Despite being born in Canada, there was only ever one country that Owen Hargreaves wanted to play for – England. Whilst he came close to playing for Wales (being called up to their U-21 set-up) as soon as England came calling he chose them instead. He made his full first-team debut for the Three Lions in August 2001, and travelled to Japan / Korea World Cup 2002 as the only footballer in the squad that didn’t play in England.

He was called-up to the Euro 2004 and World Cup 2006 campaigns, in spite of a press backlash against him – the red-tops believed that Hargreaves didn’t have the class to wear the famous white shirt even though he had won the Bundesliga four times! By the end of World Cup 2006 he was being hailed by the same newspapers as the only hero in England’s disappointing campaign.