Owen Hargreaves: biography, photo

Owen Hargreaves, whose biography interests many of his fans, is an English footballer, a midfielder in the game role. He played for his team at the following championships: the world in 2002 and 2006. And Europe (2004).

A family

Hargreaves Owen Lee was born on January 20, 1981 in Canada, in the city of Calgary, where his parents emigrated from England in the early eighties. Owen was the youngest in the family, the third child. His father, Colin Hargreaves, was a football player and played in the Canadian League. Owen's mother's name is Margaret. There are older brothers - Neil and Darren.

Beginning of a football career

Owen's football career began with ninety-fourth year. It was then that he first came to the Calgary Foothills Academy. In it, he studied until 1997. Then he was noticed by the scouts of the German club. And in the same year Owen was invited to join the "Bavaria Munich".

It was his star chance, because before him there were huge prospects for a future career already in professional football. Owen Hargreaves accepted the offer and moved to Europe. He played in the youth team for two and a half years. Then six months played in the amateur team. In 1998, Bayern reached the final of the German championship, but lost to Borussia in the penalty shoot-out series.

The first contract

In 2000, Owen was invited to sign a contract with the main structure of "Bavaria" for the role of midfielder. For the set of the game form, Hargreaves was temporarily transferred to the reserve. His outings for the double were quite successful. And a year after the persistent training, he was already taken to the main team. As soon as Owen was in it, the coach began to attract him to the game more actively, giving a lot of practice.

Debut

He made his debut in the first team of Owen Hargreaves on the twelfth of August 2000. At that time he replaced Karsten Yanker in the eighty-third minute. On the sixteenth of September he already played a full match (ninety minutes) against Unterhaching. Season 2000-2001 was for Bavaria a triumph. The club won the Champions League. It was then that Owen's excellent game attracted world attention to him. He was a worthy opponent of such eminent masters as R. Carlos and L. Figo. Owen is one of two British players who won the Champions League with a non-English club.

The statement in the main part of the "Bavaria"

Hargreaves Owen, whose photo is in this article, remained in the main part of the German club as a permanent player during the 2000-2001 season. He played forty-six games for Bayern Munich. And this season became for Hargreaves decisive, despite the loss of the German Cup, and the withdrawal from the quarter-finals of the League, Owen was already approved as the main player of the backbone of this titled German team.

Injury

At the end of the summer of 2001, he played in the national team of Great Britain against Holland. And he became the first player to wear an English shirt, although he never lived there and did not play before Britain. But Owen could not finish the match until the end. On the fifteenth minute he was injured and was replaced.

The first goal in the Bundesliga

In the 2002-2003 season, Hargreaves again expected success. Now on the domestic scene. German "Bayern" still won the cup and home championship. In January 2003, Hargreaves Owen scored his first goal in the Bundesliga. We played against Borussia.

But because of the injuries Owen missed three times. First, the muscle of the thigh was torn, then the calf and three weeks later suffered with the adductor. But managed to play 25 games in the championship, 4 - for the German Cup and 3 in the Champions League.

Then he played for a few seasons for the German club "Bavaria". I got medals, I won with the Cups and championships, I scored the first goal on the brand new "Bavarian" stadium. In 2005, the contract with the club was extended for another four years. At one of the home championships, Hargreaves was recognized as the best football player of the national team.

Owen's move to Manchester United

The season 2006-2007 was for Owen unsuccessful and good at the same time. At first he just was not lucky. Hargreaves broke his leg during one of the matches and missed the lion's share of the season. But managed to return to the club to help the "Bavaria" beat the Champions League in Madrid "Real".

In the same season, he made a proposal for the transfer of English "Manchester United". Owen did not even conceal the desire to leave to play for the British club. But the term of the contract did not come out, and the coach of the "Bavaria" did not want to leave the valuable player ahead of time.

In April Franz Beckenbauer, president of the German club, still changed his mind and softened the position, allowing Hargreaves to switch to Manchester United, if the British pay him about twenty million pounds. As a result, the transaction took place. And there was a transfer of Hargreaves for seventeen million pounds.

"Manchester United"

On May 24, Owen Hargreaves came with his agent to the training base of the English club "Manchester United" to discuss the contract. As a result, he was signed for four years.

The first season in Manchester United was not very successful for Hargreaves. During the debut in the new team the British were defeated. Then prevented to play old injuries of the knee and back. Therefore, before the New Year Owen played only ten matches. But since January the situation began to improve. In general, during the 2007-2008 season, Hargreaves played in twenty-three games in the first team and eleven for a double.

Owen's game was marked as very impressive. He was able to score two goals with excellent free throws. Balls flew into the gates of "Fulham" and "Arsenal". Until the end of the season, Owen was able to show himself that he won in absentia in the starting line-up in the final game of the Champions League. And in the match with "Chelsea" confidently realized the blow during the series of penalty shoot-outs. The victory was for Manchester United. So, Owen had the second gold medal of the Champions League. He is one of the few players who managed to win this prestigious European tournament twice in his career.

Fracture in career

The 2008-2009 season was a turning point for Owen and failed. From the very beginning, they began to remind themselves of previous knee injuries. Owen Hargreaves went to London and Swedish specialists. But it did not work. In November 2008, Owen went to Richard Steadman, a well-known surgeon from Colorado.

As a result, Hargreaves was assigned an operation on the right knee, which was held on November 10, 2008. In January of the following year, another knee was operated. The operation was very difficult, and a long recovery was required.

Because of this, Owen missed one hundred and thirteen matches - almost two seasons. And went on the field only in the thirty-seventh round of the Premier League, replacing Luis Nani. I played in the starting lineup rarely. I've only played twenty-seven matches. And in November he was injured again, this time with a hamstring, and left the field in the sixth minute.

In 2011, Sir Alex Ferguson, the manager of Manchester United, was forced to decide not to renew the contract with Owen. In his subsequent comments, he noted that Hargreaves was trying very hard to get in shape. Therefore, it was very difficult to make such a decision about parting.

In "Manchester City": the completion of a career

In 2011, Owen as an experienced player invited the club, "Manchester City". They invited him only to replace the leading midfielders, if necessary. In this English team he stayed for two years, practically not playing, occasionally going to replace. After that I decided to try myself in the coaching field. So sad Owen Hargreaves completed his career.