Owen Hargreaves
In the jersey of Manchester United - 2008
Owen Lee Hargreaves ( born January 20, 1981 in Calgary, Alberta) is a former Canadian football player with a British passport, who played for the English national team.
Career
Clubs
Hargreaves started at Calgary Foothills to the football games and reached 1997 in the youth department of FC Bayern Munich. Outgrown his youth, he moved in 2000 to the amateur team in his first season for which he played 15 games and scored four goals Regional. His debut at senior level he was on 30 July 2000 ( 1st Round ) at the 2:4 defeat at home to the VfR Mannheim, he scored his first league goal on 10 September 2000 ( 7th Round ) 3-2 - victory at home to FC Carl Zeiss Jena with the results for the interim 3-0 in the 60th minute.
His debut in the first team he was on 12 August 2000 ( 1st Round ) 4-1 victory at home to Hertha BSC, when he came on in the 73rd minute for Carsten Jancker. In the same season he woke to the attention of the media when he replaced in the Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid the yellow- locked Stefan Effenberg and exceeded expectations by far. In the final against Valencia he played 90 minutes and thus contributed to winning the Champions League in 2001. His first Bundesliga goal he scored on 26 January 2003 (18th Round ) in a 3-0 win at home to Borussia Moenchengladbach reduce the deficit to intermediate 1-0 in the 25th minute.
In October 2005, Hargreaves extended his contract with Bayern Munich until 30 June 2010. In August 2006, Manchester United offered according to media reports 25 million euros for Hargreaves, in December then 30 million, and this flirted with the move to England. However Bavaria insisted on compliance with the Treaty and gave it not free.
In May 2007, FC Bayern finally reached an agreement with Manchester on a transfer fee of 25 million euros, the highest transfer fee, which until then had been paid for a Bundesliga player. Hargreaves signed a four -year contract, which was endowed according to media reports with 7 million euros. On 31 May 2007 the British confirmed the change on 1 July 2007, although Hargreaves had not signed a contract. On the same day, Bayern announced the change on its website known and it confirmed a " transfer fee [ ... ] in a Bundesliga record height". In 2008 he won with Manchester United not only the championship but also the Champions League.
Shortly after the start of the following season 2008/ 09 - Hargreaves completed just two league games - worsened the knee problems that had already occurred at Hargreaves in the season before. After two unsuccessful operations in London and Sweden, he was treated at the American specialist Richard Steadman in November 2008 and was re- operated on -. A second time in January 2009, a result he came in the remaining season no longer used and returned only at the end September 2009 back for a week as part of his rehabilitation program in the United States to Manchester.
On 2 May of 2010 ( 37th Round ) was Hargreaves substitute in the 1-0 win in the away game against Sunderland in the 90th minute for Ryan Giggs and returned with it after about 21 months back on the playing field. After another injury, he played 6 November 2010 (11th Round ), in a 3-2 victory at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers, for the first time since September 2008 again, but had to be replaced due to a thigh injury after ten minutes. This game should be his last for Manchester, for 22 May 2011 confirmed Alex Ferguson told the newspaper the Mail on Sunday that Hargreaves ' expiring contract at Manchester United would not be renewed.
On 31 August 2011, the League competitor and city rivals Manchester City announced the signing of Hargreaves, who furnished him with a contract valid until 30 June 2012. On September 21, 2011, he scored in the League Cup in a 2-0 win against Birmingham City the opening goal; his only competitive goal for the Citizens.
After a season with only four inserts ( in three competitions ), the club broke its contract with Hargreaves in May 2012 to early. His only league game he played 15 November 2011 (8th Round ) in a 4-1 victory at home to Aston Villa, ending with the end of 30 June 2012, footballer career.
National
On 31 August 2000 Hargreaves played for the first time the national team, as the U- 21 team in Middlesbrough won 6-1 against the selection of Georgia. It was followed by two more missions in the test internationals against the selection of Italy and Spain. In the national team he debuted on August 15, 2001 in London at the 0-2 defeat in the Test match against the selection of the Netherlands. His second mission he experienced on 1 September 2001 at the Munich Olympic Stadium in a 5-1 victory in the World Cup qualifier against Germany when he came on in the 78th minute for Steven Gerrard. Hargreaves was the only " Legionnaire " in the squad of the national team at the World Championships in 2002. Moreover, he took part in both the 2004 European Championships in Portugal, and at the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Although his nomination was controversial - he even suspected as a reason that he plays in Germany and was born in Canada - he was named after the tournament as the best English World Cup players. Because of good performance, especially in the quarter-final against Portugal ( which England lost on penalties, as only Owen Hargreaves his penalty changed ), but was rehabilitated after the World Cup, when the media and fans publicly apologized for the previously expressed at Hargreaves harsh criticism. From the meantime retired David Beckham, he took over temporarily the jersey number 7 His last international game he played on 28 May 2008 in London 's 2-0 victory over the United States.
Achievements
- Champions League winner 2001 ( with FC Bayern München ), 2008 ( with Manchester United)
- World Cup Winners 2001 ( with FC Bayern München ), 2008 ( with Manchester United)
- German Champion 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006
- DFB Cup winner in 2003, 2005, 2006
- DFB - League Cup Winners 2000, 2004
- English Champion 2008
- FA Community Shield 2007, 2010
Awards
2001 was awarded the Trofeo Bravo for best young player in Europe Owen Hargreaves of the Italian magazine "Il Guerin Sportivo ".
In January 2007, he was chosen by the English Association (FA ) in England's Footballer of the Year 2006. In a survey on the FA website, the midfielder received 29 percent of the vote and sat in front of Steven Gerrard from Liverpool FC (18 percent ) and Peter Crouch ( 15).