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England's Michael Owen Posted: Thursday May 23, 2002 1:57 PM
By Candy Reid, CNNSI.com He's known as the "Boy Wonder" for his amazing scoring ability. As an 18-year-old, Michael Owen took the 1998 World Cup by storm, scoring one of the finest goals in the history of the Cup against Argentina in the second round. He's England's star striker, and with David Beckham a question mark for this year's World Cup, the hopes of the nation are squarely on his young shoulders. The striker was also a crucial part of England qualifying for this year's World Cup finals, scoring two goals against rival -- and then group leader -- Germany. The English are in arguably the toughest group in the finals, and they know the first game against Sweden on June 2nd is crucial. "The first game is so important not to get beaten," he said. "You win it and you know you only have to do one more good result and your properly through. "You lose and it's an uphill struggle, especially against the quality we're going to be playing against." The absence of Beckham, England's regular captain, led to Owen being given the armband for a World Cup warmup against Paraguay, and he proved his leadership after opening the scoring in the fourth minute en route to a 4-0 victory. "I'd love to [captain England] again but not in the World Cup, because that would mean one of our most important players will be out." Owen, now 22, was recently voted the European Player of the Year after his club team Liverpool won five trophiess in their 2001 European and domestic campaigns. The Boy Wonder now hopes that he can lead his country to the biggest trophy of all. World Sport, the sports news show that airs on CNN International, previewed many of the individuals expected to shine at the World Cup.
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