History and Biography of Michael Owen

Few young players were greeted with so much expectation in England as was Michael Owen on his debut. He was considered a future world class talent even since his teens and he did manage to fill the big shoes that he has been offered, wherever he played.

Unfortunately, a string of annoying injuries reduced his chances of becoming the top player that he was meant to be. This Michael Owen biography will take you through the ups and downs of the striker’s career, from youth level to his current club, Newcastle United.

Michael Owen Biography – Youth Days

Full name Michael James Owen Date of birth December 14, 1979 Place of birth Chester, England Height 5.8FT – 1.72M Playing position Striker

Owen started playing soccer at Mold Alexandra, a Welsh club, at only 7 years of age. His father persuaded the club’s coach to use Michael in a team of 10 year olds and despite his smaller frame, he managed to become the “secret weapon” of the team soon enough, especially since all the other players would underestimate him due to his size and age.

At 11, he was already a star amongst the English soccer world and everyone rushed in to sign him. He had offers from Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool and he eventually settled for the latter, Liverpool offering him the chance to study at the FA’s School of Excellence when he was 14 years old.

Michael Owen Biography – Liverpool

Season Club Games Goals 1996–2004 Liverpool 216 118 2004–2005 Real Madrid 34 13 2005–Present Newcastle United 19 8 Last Update – Sep 28, 2007 Domestic League Only

In 1996, right after Michael Owen’s 17th birthday, he was offered a contract for the senior squad. On his first match in the jersey of Liverpool, he came in as a substitute and scored a goal which overjoyed the young player and would give him confidence for the future. Actually, as he will soon prove, Michael Owen’s goals would literally “feed” his hunger for more. The times in which he didn’t score, would also mean a downslide in his overall form.

Michael Owen would play with Liverpool for 8 full seasons, winning the League Cup twice (2001 and 2003), the FA Cup once (2001), the UEFA Cup once (2001) and the European Super Cup and Charity Shield in the same year, 2002. He has attained a legendary status amongst the fans, but unfortunately he also built a reputation for himself as being a glass cannon: a lethal player when fit, but also one that is quite fragile physically.

Michael Owen’s goals for Liverpool (180 in approximately 350 appearances for the club) made Real Madrid consider him as a top class striker for their star-studded team and in 2004, they bought the promising English striker from Liverpool, in a deal of roughly $15 million.

Michael Owen Biography – Real Madrid and Newcastle United

Real Madrid is the kind of team that you either prove your worth at, or die down as an eternal substitute. During his time at Real, Michael Owen was neither. His sole season at Real earned Owen the highest goals/minutes played ratio, but he was not a regular first team player and with Real Madrid signing two additional Brazilian strikers in the summer of 2005 (Robinho and Baptista), Michael Owen’s spot seemed sealed, so he moved to Newcastle United.

Years National Team Games Goals 1998-Present England 85 40 Last Update – Sep 12, 2007

At Newcastle United, Michael Owen seems to have regained his scoring pace. Finally catching a break from his injuries, he managed to score regularly in his first season here and also regained his place in the start-up line of England’s national side.

Unfortunately, in the 2006 World Cup initial match against Sweden, Michael Owen suffered yet another injury, this time damaging his anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, an injury that kept him off the pitch for over a year, as he just started running and training again in the spring of 2007.

Although fully recovered now, his time with Newcastle United seems short and many speculate that as soon as an opportunity arises, Michael Owen will move back to the club that made him famous, Liverpool FC.

Top Money Making Club in World of Football

Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United. Samuel Eto’o and Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona. David Beckham

Real Madrid is still the top moneymaking club in world football, beating out European Cup champion Manchester United due to the plunging pound, according to the latest review of the sport’s finances.

Deloitte’s study, which ranks the 20 biggest clubs based on revenue, showed that Madrid generated euro 365.8 million in the 12 months to June 30, 2008.

The Red Devils would have ended their season leading the Football Money League if the pound had not depreciated against the euro. Had the pound stayed steady at the June 2007 rate, United’s revenue of 257.1 million pounds would have equated to euro 382 million rather euro 324.8 million by last June.

“Whilst Real Madrid’s 4 per cent revenue growth in 2007-08 is more modest than recent years, the club has now doubled its revenues since 2002 and enjoys a lead of euro 41 million over Manchester United,” said Dan Jones of Deloitte’s sports business group. “With the club having announced that it is budgeting for revenues of euro 400 million in 2008-09, it will be difficult for rivals to replace Real at the top of the Money League next year.”

Despite a 31st Spanish league title, Madrid’s commercial revenue dropped 5 per cent. It is blamed on lower shirt sponsorship income following the bankruptcy of BenQ Mobile and the loss of midfielder David Beckham to the Los Angeles Galaxy in 2007.

“It will be interesting to see how the club copes with the loss of the Brand Beckham effect and the challenging commercial market that clubs are now facing,” the report said.

Deloitte only used revenue as its ranking and not the wealth of individual club owners, including Chelsea’s Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich.

Spanish league leader Barcelona was provided with an uplift, like Madrid, by individually negotiated broadcast contracts in place until 2013-14, and is third with revenue of euro 308.8 million.

“The fact that if today’s exchange rates were applied United would have finished below Barcelona, emphasizes the impact that exchange rate movements have had on English clubs’ relative ranking in this year’s list,” Jones said.

“Aston Villa, Everton and West Ham United can all consider themselves unlucky to have missed out on a top 20 place.” But the list, which only contains European clubs, was still dominated by the English with seven teams, compared to six the previous year.

German champion Bayern Munich is fourth with revenue of euro 295.3 million, followed by English clubs Chelsea and Arsenal, while Italian teams AC Milan, AS Roma, Inter Milan and Juventus occupy the next spots. Driven largely by its successful participation in the Champions League, 19th-place Fenerbahce is the first Turkish club to appear since the list was created after the 1996-97 season. Only six clubs in the top 20 did not participate in Europe’s lucrative competition.

Deloitte was investigating a period before the economic downturn took hold, but its analysts believe the strength of broadcast controls will provide a stable revenue stream in the coming years.

While Deloitte concludes that football will be resistant, not immune, to the financial meltdown, it warns club owners that they will struggle to secure credit and invest in stadiums.

History and Biography of Iker Casillas

Complete Name: Iker Fernández Casillas Nationality: Spanish Place of Birth: San Sebastián, Spain Date of Birth: 20/05/1981 Height: 180 cm Weight: 75 kg National Team: Spain Current Club: Real Madrid (Spain) Position: Goalkeeper

Iker Casillas Fernández (born May 20, 1981 in Móstoles, Madrid) is a Spanish football goalkeeper. He is currently the first choice goalkeeper for Real Madrid and the Spanish national team. He is also the first vice-captain of Spain. Still only a youngster in goalkeeping terms, Iker Casillas has nonetheless gained a huge reputation in European football. A shot-stopper par excellence, the Real Madrid player is gradually developing the commanding presence in his area which could yet see him become an all-time great.

Full Detailed Biography

• Because he was too young to have a driver’s license, Casillas was the only Madrid player to use public transport to get to training sessions in the 1999/00 season.
• He is currently dating Spanish model Eva González. She comes from Seville and has appeared in TV programmes and done numerous photo shoots for magazines. She was recently voted the prettiest footballers’ partner in Spain.

Born in Madrid in 1981, Casillas’ entire career has been spent with his hometown club Real Madrid, which he joined as an eight-year old. He first hit the limelight at 17 when he was pulled out of a high school art class to be told he would be on the bench for a Champions League match. His breakthrough came during the 1999-2000 season, when he replaced the injured Bodo Illgner and played in Madrid’s UEFA Champions League triumph in an all-Spanish final against Valencia CF where his senior team mates Raúl González, Fernando Morientes and Steve McManaman scored in a 3-0 win.

Loss of form subsequently allowed César Sánchez to take the starting position as goalkeeper, but Casillas reclaimed the limelight after coming on as substitute for the veteran in the 2002 UEFA Champions League Final against Bayer Leverkusen and preserving Madrid’s 2-1 lead with a series of fine saves.Casillas came on to replace the injured Cesar with 22 minutes remaining at Hampden Park and produced a series of outstanding saves to ensure Real held on to their lead. At one point Leverkusen appeared to be queuing up to score but Casillas was at his best, his efforts to deny Yildiray Basturk and Dimitar Berbatov particularly brilliant.

Again the Real Madrid first choice in the 2002-03 season, an injury-free season saw Casillas play in 15 of his side’s Champions League games as well as all 38 Primera División matches as Madrid reclaimed the Spanish championship. In the 2003-04 season, Casillas was virtually ever-present as Madrid relinquished their crown and lost the Spanish Cup final, missing just one league game.

Despite Casillas’ stellar performances every week, Real Madrid suffered two trophyless seasons in the 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons. Although Casillas was widely considered the team’s most consistent performer during this lean patch, there was much gossip and speculation regarding a possible transfer to another club. Manchester United was the name that regularly cropped up in newspapers. It was speculated that Casillas was unhappy with his salary, which was paltry in comparison to the amounts earned by some of the team’s bigger stars. However, the saga ended when the player signed a contract extension on the November 30, 2005, tying him to the club till 2011.

Teams

Casillas was a member of the Spanish teams which won the UEFA-CAF Meridian Cup and FIFA World Youth Championship in 1999. Following his full international debut against Sweden, Casillas was an unused substitute at Euro 2000.

2002 World Cup

He was the first choice goalkeeper at the 2002 FIFA World Cup held in South Korea and Japan later that year, and enjoyed hero status after Spain knocked out the Republic of Ireland in a penalty shoot-out to advance to the quarter-finals. Before the 2002 FIFA World Cup, he was almost unknown to most football fans because he was only a substitute player. After the FIFA World Cup and his performances against the Republic of Ireland and South Korea, he was finally the leading goal keeper in the national team.

Euro 2004

Casillas played in all eight Group 6 fixtures during Euro 2004 qualifying, conceding just four goals. He then kept goal in both legs of the play-off victory against Norway, keeping a clean sheet in Oslo. He then backstopped his country at the Euro 2004 finals.

2006 World Cup

Casillas was his country’s first-choice goalkeeper during the 2006 FIFA World Cup.