Michael Owen has said that he would have broken Bobby Charlton’s record of scoring the most no. of goals for England if he had not been hit by several injuries during his career.

Owen finished his international career with 40 goals which is 9 less than Charlton’s tally of goals.
Owen retired from professional football at the end of the last season.

Talking to the reporters about the ups and downs of his career, Owen said, “I discovered the hamstring problem pretty early in my career. I was just 19 years of age at that time and I had to make some adjustments in my game after that.”

“That injury kept troubling me time and again and eventually shortened my international career. If I had not picked up that injury so early in my career, I might have ended up as England’s leading goal scorer.”

Owen had burst onto the scene in the 1998 world cup. He was lightening quick then. His speed didn’t remain the same for too long though. The hamstring injury cut down his speed, but, Owen didn’t let that injury end his career. He adjusted his game accordingly and ended up playing for quite a few big clubs around the world including Liverpool, Manchester United and Real Madrid.
When asked for which club he enjoyed playing the most, Owen said, “I enjoyed playing for all the clubs, but, those days at Liverpool were just terrific. I was at my peak at that time and won quite a few trophies there. That was probably the best period of my career.”

Owen featured for Liverpool in 216 games and found the net 118 times for them. These numbers suggest how successful his Liverpool career was. He left Liverpool in 2004 to join Real Madrid.