My Unpublished Memoirs - Owen's Autobiography

Author: Owen
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-01
Features: [Preface] Preface That was a summer night in Lisbon, a hot night, I stood at the penalty spot at the light stadium, my calf muscle kept twitching. After the referee's whistle, I jumped up with my right foot, kicked a ground ball, and broke the goal of the Portuguese goalkeeper Ricardo. As I walked back to the center circle, my legs were still trembling, that road was really long, really difficult. But the road home was longer and more difficult. In the six incredible years of my career, I have experienced two penalty shootout deciders. The first was in the 1998 French World Cup 1/8 final against Argentina. In that game, I scored a goal, which was called the "miracle goal" by the people. The second was sending England back home from the European Championship. I broke Ricardo's goal, but Ricardo defeated England, that goalkeeper in gray clothes came out last, broke David James' goal. This goal made Portugal win, the host got the chance to compete with the Netherlands for the final. For Argentina and Portugal, England lost both times in the penalty shootout. The next morning, I was still packing my luggage blankly, not daring to face the fact that we had left Lisbon ten days before the final. I was very sad, but you will find that I did not lose confidence in England – before I retired, we would definitely win a major championship. No matter how deep the pain Portugal left us, I would not give up. Looking back at the seven years in Liverpool and the six years wearing the England jersey, I was always proud and optimistic. At the 1998 World Cup, I was like Wayne Rooney now – an 18-year-old boy who was not afraid of anything, just starting to get famous and entering the sight of the Merseyside fans. Thinking back to the changes in the past six years, I don't know if I will encounter so many things in the coming years. When I was 17, I joined Liverpool's first team, broke the goal of Wimbledon in just matches, and after that, I represented England in four major international matches, scoring every time. If you include the European Super Cup and the Community Shield, which are one-game decisive matches (the Super Cup is held between the champions of the Champions League and the UEFA Cup in the previous season, and the Community Shield is held between the Premier League champion and the FA Cup champion, with a one-game decisive format), I have won six trophies for Liverpool in the past six years, including the triple crown of the 2001 FA Cup, the League Cup, and the UEFA Cup. In the final of the 2001 FA Cup, I scored two goals against Arsenal, those two goals still make me excited when I think about them now, that was a shining moment in my career. I have played 60 matches for England, scored 26 goals, was once named European Footballer of the Year, and completed a hat-trick in the England vs. Germany match held in Munich. Before the 2004-2005 season, I had already scored 118 league goals for Liverpool. At Anfield Stadium, I have witnessed the Reds go from peak to valley, seeing Houiller come and go. I have also sat in the hotel where the England team stayed in Lisbon, listening to Benitez – Houiller's successor – tell how he would turn Liverpool into a great and unique team. Of course, football is not the only thing in my life. I grew up in Flintshire, northern Wales, a quiet place full of green, my father, Terry, moved the whole family there to settle after he finished his career in the lower-tier football league. Six years have passed since that memorable night in Saint-étienne, France, and now I am 23, have become a father, and have a home I have always dreamed of – I also have children. With our beautiful daughter Gemma, Louise and I will soon move from student friends to husband and wife. Most of my story is about family; I am lucky to have children, so I have to be a family-oriented man, to provide a happy and stable environment for the children to grow up. I often used to run outside when I was a child, full of adventures. Similarly, when I was young, I understood the value of money and the meaning of hard work. Yes, I cried once when I reached the football school of the FA in Lille, I was only 14, and still a student who needed to be taken care of. My father, mother, brothers, and sisters have always supported me, they were right there when I broke the student's scoring record in Deeside Park; and they were also there when I needed to put the pressure of the 2004 European Championship behind me – on a ship docked in the port of Portugal. My football career started with playing everywhere, and after that, I had many discoveries. My father never mentioned his career of constantly transferring between teams (sorry, Dad), but when we finally convinced him to tell his story, our family became closer. Everything I did in my football career is inseparable from my father. My new home has a stable, and the horses often stick their heads out of the stable, my children can watch them grow up. One day, I will even tell Gemma that in January 2004, her mother, Louise, fell heavily to the ground from Isabelle (Louise's favorite horse); I will also tell her that when Louise was suffering from severe pelvic fractures and other injuries in the hospital, my family came to us and helped us through the difficult times. No one's sports career is smooth sailing, no matter how successful it looks on the surface. So in this book, I will tell you how I struggled with my Achilles tendon and other injuries, and I will also talk about the controversy of the 2000 European Championship, my increasingly deteriorating relationship with Kevin Keegan, and the stories in the tabloids about my gambling. This book will also tell you how I worked hard to get back into shape before the quarter-final match against Brazil at the 2002 World Cup, a process that included 24 hours of treatment, confusion, and pain, a story I haven't told you yet. After the 2004 European Championship, just after saying goodbye to my teammates, someone asked me to explain why I thought England would come out of its repeated disappointments over the past 14 years and win the championship. Can I still wait for that day? Yes, I can, because I have great confidence in this team. I know it's hard to keep confidence in yourself when you go home empty-handed every time. But all I can do is calm down and think about how to succeed next time. In the UK, people always complain that we don't play well enough and that we always lose in penalty shootouts. But think about the fans of Italy, Spain, and Germany. Italian fans expect their team to win the championship more than we do, but they were eliminated in the group stage of the European Championship, even earlier than us, have they ever complained about bad luck? Spain, the host country Portugal's neighbor, has the advantage of timing, location, and support, but they still didn't qualify from the group stage like Germany, have they ever complained? In national team matches, a champion is only produced every two years; while at Liverpool, we have four chances to win a championship every season. As a club team, even if you finish second, third, or even fourth in the Premier League, it's a small success, because it means you can participate in the next season's Champions League. As a player for England, no matter what we do, as long as we don't win the championship, the fans will be like deflated balloons. Things should be like this, but we have to remember – club matches and national team matches are different, we must keep confidence in these talented players. England's coach Sven-Goran Eriksson reminded us after the European Championship that in the three and a half years since he took over the England team, we have only lost three matches in international competitions, yet we always asked ourselves, "Why didn't we win?" In 2002 against Brazil, we were leading 1-0 and controlled the game until they equalized the score. This time in Lisbon against France, we were about to win, but after the 90th minute, the outstanding Zinedine scored two goals, and then we lost to Portugal in the penalty shootout. In my eyes, we are always unlucky, especially in the match against France. We lost the match not because of any curse, nor because we were worse than others. There are six to seven teams in the world that have the strength to win major international championships, and England is always one of them, and I believe we will still be a favorite to win the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Every time we are eliminated, we analyze our performance, which always gives us a sense of frustration, because we know we are not worse than the four teams that advanced to the semi-finals. This feeling is even stronger after Portugal, the Netherlands, Greece, and the Czech Republic reached the final four of the 2004 European Championship, so I believe our chances are great in Germany. I played football because I wanted to win honor and live a glorious life. I really want to win the World Cup for England, I want to see the fans' reaction when we win the championship, in England, the passion for football always makes the players full of passion. Seeing the joy of winning sweep across England, it will be a beautiful memory until the end of my life, we have already seen this scene when the English rugby team won the World Cup. In the domestic league, I really want to see Liverpool achieve success again. For 13 years, I have been part of this club. Nothing makes me happier than seeing the red half of Merseyside become a dominant force in the league. Before I retire, I must at least win one or two Premier League championship medals around my neck. Owen is the former British football prodigy, today's world-class striker; helped Liverpool win six trophies, achieving the triple crown; twice participated in the World Cup, twice played in the European Championship. This book contains everything this modest genius has never revealed: his interactions with star players, his complex relationships with famous coaches; his touching family love, his interesting relationship with Louise, his deep affection for his daughter; the exciting moments of major competitions, his peak performances; his bold real estate purchases, his expensive horse betting, and his joyful life. Owen faces doubts and criticisms frankly, and in his autobiography, he makes unprecedented confessions.