Owen Hargreaves

Owen Lee Hargreaves (born 20 January 1981) is a association football, who plays as a midfielder for Manchester United F.C. and England national football team. Although born in Canada, Hargreaves began Owen Hargreaves professional football career in Germany with FC Bayern Munich. After seven years with the Munich side – during which time Owen Hargreaves won four German league titles and the 2001 UEFA Champions League – Hargreaves signed for Manchester United in 2007, and won the Premier League and UEFA Champions League in Owen Hargreaves first season there.

Background

Hargreaves was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, as the youngest of three children of Margaret and Colin Hargreaves, who had migrated to Canada from the United Kingdom at the start of the 1980s. Owen Hargreaves father played football for the Bolton Wanderers F.C. youth side and also for the Calgary Kickers of the Canadian Soccer League (current). Owen Hargreaves has two brothers, Darren and Neil. Owen Hargreaves eldest brother, Darren, represented Canada at youth level.

Club career

Bayern Munich

Owen Hargreaves moved at the age of sixteen from Calgary Foothills to Bayern Munich on 1 July 1997. Hargreaves played in the Bayern Munich Junior Team for two and a half years before spending six months with the FC Bayern Munich II. Whilst with the Under 19s the team reached the Final of the Under 19 Bundesliga (football) in 1998. They lost in the final to Borussia Dortmund, but only after a penalty shoot-out in Dortmund's Stadion Rote Erde.

On 12 August 2000, Hargreaves played in Owen Hargreaves first Fußball-Bundesliga match, making an appearance as a substitute for Carsten Jancker in the 83rd minute. Owen Hargreaves first start came against SpVgg Unterhaching on 16 September 2000. That season proved to be a triumphant one for FC Bayern Munich; the club were Bundesliga champions and also claimed the UEFA Champions League crown. Hargreaves's performances in the Champions League semi final against Real Madrid C.F. put Owen Hargreaves in the international spotlight as Owen Hargreaves showed Owen Hargreaves was capable of holding Owen Hargreaves own against the likes of Roberto Carlos da Silva and Luís Figo. Owen Hargreaves is one of only two English players to have won a Champions League medal with a non-English club, the other being two-time winner Steve McManaman (Real Madrid C.F.).

In the 2001–02 season Hargreaves established himself as a first team regular, making 46 appearances in all. In spite of setbacks for the club in the form of a third place finish in the Bundesliga, a quarter final appearance in the Champions League and a Cup defeat by FC Schalke 04, the season proved to be a decisive one for Hargreaves as Owen Hargreaves emerged as a key player of the team.

2002–03 saw Hargreaves celebrate another domestic success as Bayern won the Bundesliga title and the DFB-Pokal. On 26 January 2003, Hargreaves scored Owen Hargreaves first Bundesliga goal in the game against Borussia Mönchengladbach. Unfortunately, the season also saw Owen Hargreaves out injured on three separate occasions. In September Owen Hargreaves tore a thigh muscle, then in October a calf muscle. Towards the end of the season Adductor longus problems meant Owen Hargreaves missed a further three weeks. Owen Hargreaves racked up 25 Bundesliga appearances, four Cup games and three matches in the Champions League.

The 2003–04 season was Hargreaves' first with Bayern without winning any silverware. After clinching the double the year before, the Munich side finished second in the Bundesliga, and were knocked out of the Champions League by Real Madrid. Hargreaves made a total of 38 appearances for the club in this season.

In 2004–05 Owen Hargreaves picked up another German championship and DFB Cup. Owen Hargreaves had 27 appearances in the Bundesliga (one goal), played in three Cup games (two goals) and eight Champions League games.

In the 2005–06 season, Owen Hargreaves added another Bundesliga and Cup title. Hargreaves scored the first goal at the new Allianz Arena in a competitive match on 5 August 2005, against Borussia Mönchengladbach. In all, Owen Hargreaves had 15 (one goal) league, four (two goals) cup and three Champions League appearances. In October 2005, Owen Hargreaves extended Owen Hargreaves contract at Bayern for another four years.

In the 2006–07 season, Hargreaves was unfortunate enough to break Owen Hargreaves leg which kept Owen Hargreaves out of most of Bayern Munich's league campaign that season. But Owen Hargreaves recovered in time to help Bayern knock out Real Madrid in the Champions League with an aggregate score of 4–4, with Bayern going through on away goals thanks to their 3–2 defeat in the first leg at Madrid's Bernabéu.

Manchester United

On 31 May 2007, it was announced that Hargreaves would join Manchester United F.C. on 1 July 2007, after almost a year of negotiations between Bayern Munich and United for a fee of around £17 million.
Hargreaves was finally unveiled as a Manchester United player on 1 July, having signed a four-year contract with the club. Owen Hargreaves was then revealed to the press on 9 July, along with fellow newcomer Nani (footballer). Hargreaves was given the number 4 shirt at Old Trafford.

Hargreaves made Owen Hargreaves Manchester United debut in a friendly against Peterborough United F.C. on 4 August, coming on as a second half substitute in United's 3–1 victory. Owen Hargreaves made Owen Hargreaves first Premier League appearance in Manchester United's third game of the season, in the derby match away to Manchester City F.C. in a 1–0 defeat. Hargreaves scored Owen Hargreaves first league goal for Manchester United against Fulham F.C. on 1 March, a free kick from just outside the penalty box. Owen Hargreaves scored Owen Hargreaves second league goal for the club on 13 April, a free kick winner against Arsenal F.C.. Owen Hargreaves first season in England was a success with Hargreaves helping Manchester United win the Premier League and UEFA Champions League titles.

The start of Hargreaves' second season at United was blighted by injury worries, specifically a recurring patellar tendinitis problem that restricted Owen Hargreaves to sporadic appearances in 2007–08. After trips to specialists in both London and Sweden yielded no results, Hargreaves travelled to Colorado, United States, in November 2008 to visit renowned knee surgeon, Richard Steadman. Hargreaves underwent surgery on Owen Hargreaves right knee on 10 November 2008 and received a similar operation on Owen Hargreaves left knee in January 2009. However, this meant that Hargreaves would miss the remainder of the 2008–09 season.

International career

Hargreaves was eligible to play international football for any one of the Home Nations or for Canada men's national soccer team, and had Owen Hargreaves not accepted selection at the time Owen Hargreaves did, would soon have been eligible for Germany national football team under residency rules. As a youngster Owen Hargreaves was a regular in the youth setups of Wales and was set to make Owen Hargreaves début for the Wales national under-21 football team team against the Belarus national under-21 football team team in September 2000 but pulled out of the squad after Owen Hargreaves was approached by England. On 31 August 2000, the then England national under-21 football team manager, Howard Wilkinson, called the 19-year-old into Owen Hargreaves squad for the match against Georgia national under-21 football team. The game, played at the Riverside Stadium, Middlesbrough, ended in a 6–1 win for the home team. Further appearances for the U21s followed in friendlies against Italy national under-21 football team and Spain national under-21 football team.

Hargreaves played Owen Hargreaves first full international game on 15 August 2001 against the Netherlands national football team at White Hart Lane, giving Owen Hargreaves the distinction of being the only player to appear for England despite having never lived in England. Owen Hargreaves was also the second player (after Joe Baker) to have appeared for England without having played in English football league system and the first to appear for England without having played in United Kingdom. In only Owen Hargreaves second cap Owen Hargreaves came on as a substitute as England famously beat Germany national football team Germany 1–5 England (2001) in the Olympic Stadium (Munich). Hargreaves was the only player playing outside the Premier League to be selected for England's 2002 FIFA World Cup squad. Hargreaves was injured after just fifteen minutes of England's second Group game against Argentina national football team and had to be substituted.

Although Owen Hargreaves had not usually been part of the first choice team, Owen Hargreaves was selected for the England squads at UEFA Euro 2004 in Portugal and the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany despite criticism from sections of the press and public. The generally negative perception of Owen Hargreaves by English fans had not been helped by Owen Hargreaves seeming to have an essence of "German-ness", exacerbated by Owen Hargreaves Canadian accent and fluency in German. Owen Hargreaves entry into England's first match of the 2006 World Cup as a substitute prompted vocal abuse from a number of England fans. However, in a tournament in which England were generally regarded as having underachieved, Owen Hargreaves was, by the end of England's participation, widely considered one of the few successes of the English squad. Owen Hargreaves was named "Man of the match" in the quarter final against Portugal national football team, the game in which England were eliminated after a Penalty shootout (association football), Hargreaves having been the only successful English penalty taker. In 2006, Owen Hargreaves won both England Player of the Year, and England Player of the World Cup in official FA polls, the first to win both in the same year.

Owen Hargreaves continued Owen Hargreaves rise in the eyes of English supporters in picking up the Man of the match award in England's 4–0 win over Greece on 18 August 2006, where Owen Hargreaves first took over the number seven shirt of former captain David Beckham. On 30 January 2007 Owen Hargreaves was voted England Player of the Year 2006, as voted for by visitors to the Official FA site.

In June 2007, FIFA announced that Hargreaves and Philipp Lahm would visit South Africa in advance support for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.