England National

Owen's decision to
commit himself to
England can probably
be attributed to his
ultimate aim -
to play in the Premiership for his father's beloved
Bolton Wanderers...

He first caught the eye with his performances in the 2000/01 Champions League when he was an assured replacement for the suspended Steffen Effenberg in the semi-finals.

For England he saved his best performance for the friendly against Paraguay in mid-April.

Sven-Goran Eriksson has long been an admirer of the young Canadian-born Bayern Munich man.

England were relieved when Hargreaves opted to play for them rather than Canada, Wales or Germany.

Eriksson fast-tracked the youngster from the Under-21s to ensure he would choose a future with England.

Born in Canada and eligible to play for four countries, Hargreaves chose to follow his parents' English roots. He came to the attention of Sven in the Champions League matches for Bayern Munich and has proved to be the find of England's season. Incredibly reliable, his skills, lightning pace, tenacity and awesome fitness will soon make him one of the first names on the team sheet. His first full international was against Holland at White Hart Lane in August 2001, and he was brought on to twist the knife in to his German colleagues in England's 5-1 victory against Germany.

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