10 things about Owen Hargreaves
Here are 10 things you may or may not know about new United signing Owen Hargreaves.
Photo by: myfear
- He was born in Calgary, Canada on January 20 1981.
- His father played youth-team football for two English clubs, Bolton Wanderers FC and Wigan Athletic FC and also for the Calgary Kickers of the Canadian Soccer League.
- Hargreaves was eligible to play international football for any one of the Home Nations or for Canada, and had he not accepted his first England cap when he did, would have been able to play for Germany as well under residency rules.
- He played his first full international game on 15 August 2001 against Holland which made him the only England player in history who has neither lived, nor played club football, in England. As he has now signed for United, once he makes his debut, this will not be the case.
- Despite being a defensive midfielder, he can score some cracking goals. See this youtube compilation for examples.
- He has never been sent off in professional football, either directly or for two bookable offences. For a tackling midfielder, this shows just how good he is at tackling. And also proves he is not the next Roy Keane.
- He was the only English player to score a penalty in the World Cup quarter final game against Portugal, proving he had learnt something from his time playing in Germany that most English players do not.
- He signed for United for a reported £17 million on 1st July 2007, a little later than Sir Alex Ferguson hoped for when he stated he wanted all his summer transfer activity completed before the 2006 World Cup.
- He is one of only two English players to win the European cup with a non-English side when Bayern Munich beat Valencia in 2001. The other, astonishingly, is Steve McManananananaman.
- He has got his very own website http://www.owenhargreaves.de where he is quoted as saying :-
“I’m just dying to play and have the chance to pull that top on for the first time”
So are we. Good luck Owen, and welcome to Manchester United.
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