I don't know about you, but despite everything, I still look at Owen as one of ours, a bit like the prodigal son. Yeah, I know he's left home and doesn't deserve a share of the inheritance, but I'll always wish him well. So, on a personal level, yesterday's injury was almost as bad as if it had happened to Carra. Here's what the BBC have to say about his prospects:


Wednesday's scan confirmed the bad news for Owen



Michael Owen is out of the World Cup and flying back to England after rupturing his anterior cruciate knee ligament in the 2-2 draw with Sweden.

A scan on Wednesday confirmed the worst fears about Owen's injury following his dramatic collapse early in the match.

"Obviously it's a massive blow. As soon as it happened I knew I was in trouble,"

said the 26-year-old striker.


Coach Sven-Goran Eriksson said:

"I'm sorry for him. But we have many players who can take that second striker role."

Owen, who won his 80th cap against Sweden, said that he would return to England and work with the Newcastle medical staff to start a recovery programme.

"I'm clearly sorry to be leaving the lads in Germany, but I'm convinced they can go on and achieve success. I'll be following all the matches very closely and giving them my full support, hopefully all the way to Berlin.
"My main objective is now to get fit as quickly as possible for Newcastle United."

Follow up:

In a statement on the club's website, Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd said:

"At this stage it's too early to say how long he'll be out for, although it is a serious injury.
"Our concern is now to provide the best possible care and get him on the mend as quickly as possible."

Eriksson continued:

"Michael has had terrible luck with injuries since Christmas.
"I feel very sorry for him to miss out on the rest of the World Cup - it's a blow to him and a big loss for the team.
"However I am sure Michael will work very hard to get back as quickly as possible for Newcastle and England.
"He is a true professional and a very mentally strong person."

But Eriksson insisted his team were still capable of lifting the World Cup despite the loss of Owen.

"We have Theo Walcott, who we haven't seen yet, we have the players in the squad who can play second striker such as Joe Cole and Steven Gerrard and Aaron Lennon can do it too.
"I'm not that worried about it. We don't want any more injuries on strikers but I'm not worried."

After Owen suffered the injury, England goalkeeper Paul Robinson told BBC Sport:

"Everyone's gutted for Michael.
"It looks like we'll go through the rest of the tournament with Wayne Rooney and Peter Crouch and hopefully they'll do well."

And England captain David Beckham, who has vowed to win the World Cup for Owen, said:

"It's sad - Michael's one of those players you need in big tournaments. It's unfortunate for him and for us,"

The bad injury caps a nightmare season for Owen, who returned to English football last summer in a £17m switch from Real Madrid to Newcastle.
He enjoyed a successful start to his Newcastle career, but broke his foot on New Year's Eve at Tottenham.

He battled back to play at the World Cup but looked less than fully fit and was substituted in both of England's opening games, without scoring.