Lucky Number Seven

As you guys know, every athlete has his/her own lucky thing when it comes to number, and it‘s normally part of traditions. In football field, some numbers are consider the greatest as all of greatest footballers are used those numbers for their t-shirts and one of those numbers is 7. This number has been used by so many greatest names in football such as Bryan Robson, Celtic’s Jimmy Johnstone, Real’s Raul, Eric Cantona, David Beckham, and recently was Ronaldo for Manchester United.

After Ronaldo’s took off, Sir. Alec Ferguson then bought Michael Owen and gave the number to him as a new striker for the team. His July 2009 arrival at Old Trafford may have raised a few eyebrows, but former Liverpool striker Michael Owen is undoubtedly one of the finest goal scorers in the history of English football. The Chester-born forward notched up more than 200 goals for Liverpool, Real Madrid and Newcastle United, plus 40 goals in 89 England internationals prior to signing for Sir Alex Ferguson's men.

Owen burst to prominence at his boyhood side, Liverpool, where he scored on his first-team debut aged just 17. His lightning pace, untraceable movement and clinical finishing made him a Premier League revelation, and it wasn’t long before he took the international stage by storm. The 1998 World Cup in France was Michael’s springboard, as he scored an incredible solo goal in England’s second-round tie with Argentina. While red-carded United midfielder David Beckham became something of a scapegoat for the Three Lions’ penalty shootout exit, Owen was hailed a national hero.

His Liverpool career went from strength to strength, and in 2001 his part in the Merseysiders' triple cup haul of UEFA Cup, FA Cup and League Cup – together with international feats including a hat-trick against Germany – earned him the Ballon d’Or and FWA Player of the Year awards.

Michael left Liverpool after eight years following the arrival of new manager Rafael Benitez, swapping countries with the new man at the Anfield helm as he moved to Real Madrid. Although he was only in La Liga for a season, Owen bagged 14 goals in 22 starts for Real before a surprise £16million move to Newcastle.

A spate of injuries underscored Owen’s career at St James’ Park, and his four seasons with the Magpies yielded only 65 starts, although he did still notch 30 goals in that time. Michael’s contract expired in the summer of 2009, at which point Sir Alex Ferguson swooped to sign the famed goal-poacher on a free transfer, offering him a two-year deal.

He got his United career off to the perfect start with a winning goal on his non-competitive debut in United's opening Asia Tour match in Kuala Lumpur. After coming off the bench in the 61st minute, Owen pounced on a loose ball after Giggs had been tackled in the area and coolly slotted home to secure a 3-2 win over a Malaysian XI.

So yeah, despite all of his injuries during last season in premiership and his previous season in Real Madrid, I still have a big expectation on him as one of the good looking footballers who is lucky enough to wear the greatest number on his t-shirt. One thing for sure is that this down to earth guy is a good player, but is he going to be one of the greatest? Does he deserve the number? Oh well, first let’s just hope that he will show us some great thing this season and let’s hope that he won’t get any injuries like he was seemed to be always had.

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Source : http://www.manutd.com/