Owen Hargreaves Stats
-Full Name: Owen Lee Hargreaves
-Birthplace: Calgary, Canada
-Date of Birth: 20/01/1981
-Height: 178cm (5ft 10ins)
-Weight: 66kg (145lbs)
-Position: Midfield/Right-back
-Squad Number: 4
International Football
England U-21 (2000 - 01)
England (2001-)
Early in Canada and Munich
Owen Hargreaves was born in Calgary, Canada and who currently plies his trade in the English Premier League with Manchester United. The midfielder is also an England international although he could've played for Germany (qualified for residency), Canada, or Wales (his mothers birthplace).
The young Owen Hargreaves started his footballing career with local side Calgary Foothills at the age of 13. He impressed whilst learning his trade with Canadian club, which ultimately earned him an exciting move to Bayern Munich at the tender age of 16.
After he had completed his move on 1st July 1997 the midfield star spent 2 seasons in Bayern's U-19's side and then six months with their amateur side.
Owen Hargreaves eventually made his first team debut for Bayern Munich on 12 August 2000 when he came on as second half substitute for 1999 UEFA Champions League Final runner-up Carsten Jancker. However, the player had to wait another 5 weeks for his first senior start, doing so against SpVgg Unterhaching. His first season in the Bayern first team was a superbly succesful one as he made 19 league appearances in helping the German giants pick up both the Bundesliga and UEFA Champions League titles.
The following season Owen Hargreaves established himself as a first team regular, as he made 46 appearances. This rise to fame didn't go unnoticed at an international level as the player was called up to the Wales U-21 squad by coach Jimmy Shoulder, at the time this wasn't much as shock as the player had been involved in various youth set-ups for the Welsh for the previous three years. However what did come a shock was that just a few days before the player was due to make his Wales U-21 debut. England U-21 manager Howard Wilkinson persuaded the player to join the English set-up. Hargreaves duly pulled out of the Welsh squad and accepted Wilkinson's offer. At the time the Guardian reported
"Unlikely though it may sound, Owen Hargreaves, a 19-year-old Bayern Munich midfield player born in Canada, has, thanks to his parents, become the subject of a tug-of-love between England and Wales.
Hargreaves, who has broken into the German champions' first team this season, was named in the Wales Under-21 squad to travel to Belarus next week for their first European Championship qualifier. But having been "invited" by England to become involved with them instead, he has pulled out of the Welsh squad.
Hargreaves, who has a Welsh mother and an English father, has been involved in the Wales set-up for three years and has played for the Welsh youth side in friendlies, which do not commit him to anyone. But if he had agreed to play for the Under-21s next week he would have been able to play only for Wales for the rest of his career.
The Wales Under-21 coach Jimmy Shoulder said: "We have unearthed the lad and done all the hard work, but now he is unsure so the right advice is to not commit yourself. We hope that eventually he decides to play for Wales.
"He is a very assured young man and it's clear that he won't commit himself unless there is a full cap at the end of it and he can be sure he will not be getting just a couple of games and that's all."
So as you can see quite a controversial move. Just after the 2000-2001 season Owen Hargreaves made his full England debut on 15 August 2001 against the Netherlands at White Hart Lane, the game was a nice landmark in English football as the midfielder became the first England player to make his debut without ever appearing for a British club.
In 2002-2003 Owen Hargreaves tasted success once more as Bayern Munich regained their Bundesliga crown and picked up the German Cup, a feat he repeated with the Bavarian's in 2004-2005 too.
Owen Hargreaves was born in Calgary, Canada and who currently plies his trade in the English Premier League with Manchester United. The midfielder is also an England international although he could've played for Germany (qualified for residency), Canada, or Wales (his mothers birthplace).
The young Owen Hargreaves started his footballing career with local side Calgary Foothills at the age of 13. He impressed whilst learning his trade with Canadian club, which ultimately earned him an exciting move to Bayern Munich at the tender age of 16.
After he had completed his move on 1st July 1997 the midfield star spent 2 seasons in Bayern's U-19's side and then six months with their amateur side.
Owen Hargreaves eventually made his first team debut for Bayern Munich on 12 August 2000 when he came on as second half substitute for 1999 UEFA Champions League Final runner-up Carsten Jancker. However, the player had to wait another 5 weeks for his first senior start, doing so against SpVgg Unterhaching. His first season in the Bayern first team was a superbly succesful one as he made 19 league appearances in helping the German giants pick up both the Bundesliga and UEFA Champions League titles.
The following season Owen Hargreaves established himself as a first team regular, as he made 46 appearances. This rise to fame didn't go unnoticed at an international level as the player was called up to the Wales U-21 squad by coach Jimmy Shoulder, at the time this wasn't much as shock as the player had been involved in various youth set-ups for the Welsh for the previous three years. However what did come a shock was that just a few days before the player was due to make his Wales U-21 debut. England U-21 manager Howard Wilkinson persuaded the player to join the English set-up. Hargreaves duly pulled out of the Welsh squad and accepted Wilkinson's offer. At the time the Guardian reported
"Unlikely though it may sound, Owen Hargreaves, a 19-year-old Bayern Munich midfield player born in Canada, has, thanks to his parents, become the subject of a tug-of-love between England and Wales.
Hargreaves, who has broken into the German champions' first team this season, was named in the Wales Under-21 squad to travel to Belarus next week for their first European Championship qualifier. But having been "invited" by England to become involved with them instead, he has pulled out of the Welsh squad.
Hargreaves, who has a Welsh mother and an English father, has been involved in the Wales set-up for three years and has played for the Welsh youth side in friendlies, which do not commit him to anyone. But if he had agreed to play for the Under-21s next week he would have been able to play only for Wales for the rest of his career.
The Wales Under-21 coach Jimmy Shoulder said: "We have unearthed the lad and done all the hard work, but now he is unsure so the right advice is to not commit yourself. We hope that eventually he decides to play for Wales.
"He is a very assured young man and it's clear that he won't commit himself unless there is a full cap at the end of it and he can be sure he will not be getting just a couple of games and that's all."
So as you can see quite a controversial move. Just after the 2000-2001 season Owen Hargreaves made his full England debut on 15 August 2001 against the Netherlands at White Hart Lane, the game was a nice landmark in English football as the midfielder became the first England player to make his debut without ever appearing for a British club.
In 2002-2003 Owen Hargreaves tasted success once more as Bayern Munich regained their Bundesliga crown and picked up the German Cup, a feat he repeated with the Bavarian's in 2004-2005 too.
In 2006 his tock within the English game rose to new heights after he was voted England's best player during the ill-fated 2006 World Cup, throwing in a superb man-of-the match performance during his side's 1/4 final penalty shoot-out defeat against Portugal. It was Hargreaves' performances during the tournamnet which made Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson sit up and take note. The Reds' boss saw the midfielder as an ideal replacement for the departed Roy Keane. However Bayern didn't want to sell their prized asset, declaring they wouldn't accept anything less then £50m for the player, and to add insult to injury a few weeks after nd negotiations had come to an abrupt halt , the player suffered a career threatening leg break, which kept him out of most of Bayern's 2006-2007 campaign.
Although the leg break was severe this didn' stop Sir Alex Ferguson from courting the player in the spring of 2007 and after a couple of months of negotiations he finally got his man.
Signing for Manchester United
Owen Hargreaves finally signed for Manchester United on July 1st 2007 (although the transfer was announced on 31st May 2007) in a £17m deal. The midfielder was given Gabriel Heinze's vacated number 4 shirt and made his first United press appearance - alongside fellow signee Nani - eight days later.
Owen Hargreaves made his Manchester United debut - after recovering from a knee problem - in a pre-season friendly against Peterborough on 4 August 2007 with The Reds running out 3-1 winners. The Canadian born midfield player made his first competitive appearance for Man Utd in the Manchester derby at Eastlands in a 1-0 defeat on 19 August 2007.
The player's first goal in a red shirt came against Fulham at Craven Cottage on 1 March 2008, when he curled home a beautiful free-kick; he repeated this act against title challengers Arsenal on 13 April 2008. The goal won the game for The Reds and proved to be one of the most important goals in United's Premier and UEFA Champions League winning season. The player now has the envious record of winning the domestic and Champions League double in his debut season with two separate clubs.
Owen Hargreaves Honours
Bayern Munich
-Bundesliga: 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006
-DFB Pokal: 2003, 2005, 2006
-Premiere Ligapokal: 2004
-UEFA Champions League: 2001
-Intercontinental Cup: 2001
Manchester United
FA Premier League: 2008
UEFA Champions League: 2008
Owen Hargreaves Personal Honours
-2001 European U-21 Player of the Year
-England Player of the Year: 2006
-England Player of the World Cup: 2006
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