Owen Hargreaves

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Personal information
Owen Hargreaves
Full name	Owen Lee Hargreaves
Date of birth	January 20 1981 (age 28)
Place of birth	Calgary, Canada
Height	5 ft 11 in / 1.82 m
Position	Defensive midfielder/Right back
Club information
Current club	Bayern Munich
Number	23
Youth clubs
1994 - 1997 1997 - 2000	Calgary Foothills SC Bayern Munich
Professional clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (goals)
2000 —	Bayern Munich	138 (5)
National team**
2001 —	England	37 (0)
* Professional club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15 September, 2006. ** National team caps and goals correct as of September 7,2006.

Owen Lee Hargreaves (born 20 January 1981 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada) is a professional footballer who plays in midfield or as a right-back for Bayern Munich and England.

1 Background
2 Career
- 2.1 FC Bayern Munich
- 2.2 International career
3 Trivia
4 Career stats
5 Awards
6 External links
7 References

[edit] Background

Owen Lee Hargreaves was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada on January 20, 1981. He is the youngest of three children born to Margaret and Colin Hargreaves who had emigrated to Canada at the start of the eighties from Great Britain.

His performances at schools and junior club level in Calgary and the surrounding area drew the attention of Harald Hoppe, a one-time junior coach at FC Bayern Munich. Following a trial in October 1996 Owen joined FC Bayern’s junior team in July of 1997.

[edit] Career

[edit] FC Bayern Munich

Owen Hargreaves moved at the age of sixteen from Calgary Foothills to FC Bayern Munich on 1 July 1997. Hargreaves played in the Under-19 team for two and a half years before spending six months to Borussia Dortmund, but only after a penalty shoot-out in Dortmund's Rote-Erde Stadium.

On August 12 2000, Hargreaves played in his first Bundesliga match, making an appearance as a substitute for Carsten Jancker in the 83rd minute. His first start came against SpVgg Unterhaching on September 16 of the same year. That season proved to be a triumphant one for Bayern Munich; the club were Bundesliga champions and also claimed the Champions League crown. Hargreaves's performances in the Champions League semi final against Real Madrid put him in the international spotlight as he showed he was capable of holding his own against the likes of Roberto Carlos and Luís Figo.

In the 2001/2002 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 Schalke 04, the season proved to be a decisive one for Hargreaves as he emerged as a key player of the team.

2002/2003 saw Hargreaves celebrate another domestic success as Bayern won the Bundesliga title and the DFB Cup. On January 26 2003, Hargreaves scored his first Bundesliga goal in the game against Borussia Mönchengladbach. Unfortunately, the season also saw him out injured on three separate occasions. In September he tore a thigh muscle, then in October a calf muscle. Towards the end of the season adductor problems meant he missed a further three weeks. He racked up 25 Bundesliga appearances, 4 Cup games and 3 matches in the Champions League.

The 2003/2004 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 he picked up another German championship and DFB Cup. He had 27 appearances in the Bundesliga (1 goal), played in 3 Cup games (2 goals)and 8 Champions League games.

In the 2005/06 season, he added another Bundesliga and Cup title. He had 15 (1 goal) league, 4 (2) cup and 3 CL appearances. His Bundesliga goal was the first of the season.

In October 2005, he extended his contract at Bayern for another four years which will keep him at the club until 2010.

On 16 September 2006 he came off after 24 minutes of Bayern Munich's 2-1 league defeat to Arminia Bielefeld after colliding with an opposing player and breaking the fibula in his left leg. <ref>Midfielder Hargreaves breaks leg (English). BBC. Retrieved on September 17, 2006.</ref>

[edit] International career

Hargreaves was eligible to play international football for any one of the Home nations or for Canada, and had he not accepted selection at the time he did, would soon have been eligible for Germany under residency rules. On August 31 2000, the then England under-21 manager, Howard Wilkinson called the 19-year-old into his squad for the match against Georgia. The game, played at the Riverside Stadium, Middlesbrough, ended in a 6-1 win for the home team. Further appearances for the Under-21s followed in friendlies against Italy and Spain.

Hargreaves's international commitment to England was sealed when he first played a full international game on August 15 2001 against the Netherlands at White Hart Lane. Hargreaves was the only player plying his trade 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 and had to be substituted.

Although he had not usually been part of the first choice team, he was selected for the England squads at Euro 2004 in Portugal and the 2006 World Cup in Germany despite criticism from sections of the press and public. The generally negative perception of him by English fans had not been helped by his seeming to have an essence of "German-ness",<ref>He's feted in Munich, but slated in England (English). The Observer. Retrieved on June 4, 2006.</ref> exacerbated by his German / Canadian accent. His 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, he was, by the end of England's participation, widely considered one of the few successes of the English squad, and he was named "Man of the Match" in the quarter final against Portugal, the game in which England were eliminated after a penalty shootout, Hargreaves having been the only successful English penalty taker.

He continued his 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 he first took over the number seven shirt of former captain David Beckham.

[edit] Trivia

Owen Hargreaves holds the distinction of being the only England player in history who has neither lived nor played club football in England.
Owen Hargreaves is the only member of his family not to be born in the United Kingdom.
Owen Hargreaves scored the first goal in a competitive match for Bayern Munich at new Allianz Arena on August 5, 2005 against Borussia Mönchengladbach.
Owen Hargreaves is one of only two Englishman to have won the UEFA Champions League Trophy with a foreign club, the other being two time winner Steve McManaman.

[edit] Career stats

**All-Time Club Performance**
Club	Season	Bundesliga		DFB Cup		Champions League		Toyota Cup		Total
Club	Season	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals
Bayern Munich	2006-07	3	0	1	0	1	0	-	-	5	0
	2005-06	15	1	4	2	3	0	-	-	22	3
	2004-05	27	1	3	2	8	0	-	-	38	3
	2003-04	25	2	3	0	6	0	-	-	34	2
	2002-03	25	1	5	1	5	0	-	-	35	2
	2001-02	29	0	4	0	13	0	1	0	47	0
	2000-01	14	0	1	0	4	0	-	-	19	0
Total		136	5	20	5	39	0	1	0	196	10
Career Totals		136	5	20	5	39	0	1	0	196	10

[edit] Awards

German Championship: 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006
UEFA Champions League: 2001
Intercontinental Cup: 2001
German Cup Winner: 2003, 2005, 2006
German League Cup 2004
2001 European U-21 Player of the Year
Ontario Cup Champions With Brampton East Youth Soccer Club. (Canada)

[edit] External links

[edit] References

FC Bayern Munich - Current Squad
1 Kahn \| 2 Sagnol \| 3 Lúcio \| 5 Van Buyten \| 6 Demichelis \| 7 Scholl \| 8 Karimi \| 10 Makaay \| 11 Podolski \| 14 Pizarro \| 17 van Bommel \| 18 Görlitz \| 19 dos Santos \| 20 Salihamidžić \| 21 Lahm \| 22 Rensing \| 23 Hargreaves \| 24 Santa Cruz \| 25 Ismaël \| 26 Deisler \| 29 Dreher \| 30 Lell \| 31 Schweinsteiger \| 36 Fürstner \| 37 Saba \| 39 Ottl \| Coach: Magath

Image:Flag of England (bordered).svg	England squad - 2006 FIFA World Cup Quarter-finalists	Image:Flag of England (bordered).svg
1 Robinson \| 2 Neville \| 3 A. Cole \| 4 Gerrard \| 5 Ferdinand \| 6 Terry \| 7 Beckham \| 8 Lampard \| 9 Rooney \| 10 Owen \| 11 J. Cole \| 12 Campbell \| 13 James \| 14 Bridge \| 15 Carragher \| 16 Hargreaves \| 17 Jenas \| 18 Carrick \| 19 Lennon \| 20 Downing \| 21 Crouch \| 22 Carson \| 23 Walcott \| Coach: Eriksson

Image:Flag of England (bordered).svg	England squad - 2002 FIFA World Cup Quarter-finalists	Image:Flag of England (bordered).svg
1 Seaman \| 2 Mills \| 3 A. Cole \| 4 Sinclair \| 5 Ferdinand \| 6 Campbell \| 7 Beckham \| 8 Scholes \| 9 Fowler \| 10 Owen \| 11 Heskey \| 12 Brown \| 13 Martyn \| 14 Bridge \| 15 Keown \| 16 Southgate \| 17 Sheringham \| 18 Hargreaves \| 19 J. Cole \| 20 Vassell \| 21 Butt \| 22 James \| 23 Dyer \| Coach: Eriksson