50 Facts About Owen Hargreaves

Owen Lee Hargreaves was born on 20 January 1981 and is a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.

Owen Hargreaves was known as a hard-working and "solid defensive midfielder who worked tirelessly to win the ball" and provide his teammates with possession.

Owen Hargreaves played with Calgary Foothills as a youth before beginning his professional football career in Germany with Bayern Munich.

Owen Hargreaves posted YouTube videos in a bid to convince potential suitors of his fitness, and in August 2011, Manchester City offered a one-year contract to Owen Hargreaves, which he accepted.

Owen Hargreaves initially played for Wales, and was capped three times for the Wales under-19 team, but then opted to play for the England under-21 team in 2000 and was capped by the senior squad the following year.

Owen Hargreaves is the only player to have played for England without having previously lived in England, and only the second, after Joe Baker, to have done so without having previously played in the English football league system.

Owen Hargreaves was born in Calgary, Alberta, as the youngest of three children of Margaret and Colin Owen Hargreaves, who had emigrated from the United Kingdom at the start of the 1980s.

Owen Hargreaves's father played football for the Bolton Wanderers youth side and for the Calgary Kickers of the Canadian Soccer League.

Owen Hargreaves is the only member of his family born in Canada; his brother Darren and his mother were both born in Wales, and his other brother Neil and his father were born in England.

Owen Hargreaves's sporting heroes were basketball legend Michael Jordan and American football player Deion Sanders.

Owen Hargreaves did not begin to play football seriously until the age of 15.

Owen Hargreaves moved at the age of 16 from Calgary Foothills to Bayern Munich on 1 July 1997.

Owen Hargreaves played in the Under-19 team for two and a half years before spending nine months with the Amateur team.

On 12 August 2000, Owen Hargreaves played in his first Bundesliga match against Hertha Berlin, making an appearance as a substitute for Carsten Jancker in the 83rd minute.

Owen Hargreaves's first start came against SpVgg Unterhaching on 16 September 2000.

That season the club were Bundesliga champions and won the UEFA Champions League, with Owen Hargreaves starting the final in central midfield.

Owen Hargreaves is one of only two English players to have won a Champions League medal with a non-English club, alongside two-time winner Steve McManaman.

Owen Hargreaves made 46 appearances in all, with the club finishing third in the Bundesliga, making the quarter-finals of the Champions League and being defeated in the DFB-Pokal by Schalke.

On 26 January 2003, Owen Hargreaves scored his first Bundesliga goal in the game against Borussia Monchengladbach.

Owen Hargreaves made a total of 38 appearances for the club in this season.

Owen Hargreaves made 27 appearances in the Bundesliga, played in three Cup games and eight Champions League games.

Owen Hargreaves scored the first goal at the new Allianz Arena in a competitive match on 5 August 2005, against Borussia Monchengladbach.

Owen Hargreaves was given the number 4 shirt at Old Trafford.

Owen Hargreaves underwent surgery on his right knee on 10 November and received a similar operation on his left knee in January 2009.

Owen Hargreaves underwent his rehabilitation programme in the United States, and was due to return to training with United at the Audi Cup in Munich.

Owen Hargreaves returned to the club on 23 September 2009, joined by his physiotherapist for a week to aid the transition process and for the club to understand his rehabilitation programme.

In January 2010, it was speculated that Owen Hargreaves was slated to return in time for United's Champions League first knockout round tie against Milan, despite not being fully match-fit.

However, on 4 February, Owen Hargreaves suffered a major setback to hopes of playing in the 2010 FIFA World Cup as Sir Alex Ferguson omitted him from the squad for the knockout stage in favour of Belgian defender Ritchie De Laet.

On 2 May 2010, Owen Hargreaves made his Premier League return in the 93rd minute of United's penultimate game of the season against Sunderland.

Owen Hargreaves later posted videos on YouTube of him exercising, in order to prove his fitness to potential clubs.

On 30 August 2011, Owen Hargreaves was pictured supposedly having a medical with Manchester City doctor Phillip Batty ahead of a move to the club.

City were to be victorious in the Premier League, winning their first English title for 44 years, with Owen Hargreaves being involved in the on-pitch celebrations after defeating Queens Park Rangers on the final day.

Owen Hargreaves was not selected to play for the Canada U-17 World Cup team, despite being a promising youth player who trialled for Bayern Munich and was about to sign a contract with them.

Owen Hargreaves drew the ire of soccer fans in Canada and football fans in Wales for choosing to play for England.

Owen Hargreaves represented Wales at the 1998 Milk Cup where Wales finished in third place behind Turkey and Northern Ireland, but finished above Russia.

Owen Hargreaves was set to make his debut for the Wales U21 team against the Belarus U21 team in September 2000 but pulled out of the squad after he was approached by England.

Owen Hargreaves played his first full international game on 15 August 2001 against the Netherlands at White Hart Lane, giving him the distinction of being the only player to appear for England despite having never lived in England.

Owen Hargreaves was the second player to have appeared for England without having played in English league football and the first to appear for England without having played in England.

Owen Hargreaves was the only player playing outside the Premier League to be selected for England's 2002 FIFA World Cup squad.

Owen Hargreaves was injured after just fifteen minutes of England's second group game against Argentina and had to be substituted.

Owen Hargreaves was named Man of the match in the quarter-final against Portugal, the game in which England were eliminated after a penalty shootout, Hargreaves having been the only successful English penalty taker.

Owen Hargreaves' career was affected by injuries, the bulk of which formed in 2006, the year he won the award for England's best player at the 2006 World Cup.

Owen Hargreaves stated that he believed the bulk of his injury problems to have been in 2007, when he returned from injury after breaking his leg.

Owen Hargreaves felt that his muscle in his leg was weaker than before he sustained his broken leg, and initially Hargreaves ignored the aching and played on.

Surgeon Richard Steadman stated that Owen Hargreaves knees were in a worse state than any other he had come across in his 35 years of experience.

In November 2010, Owen Hargreaves made his first start for Manchester United in 777 days, but limped off after six minutes.

Speculation rumbled about Owen Hargreaves retiring due to his injuries but determined to prove himself, he uploaded YouTube videos of himself training to convince potential clubs of his fitness.

Owen Hargreaves believed that his prolonged trouble with injuries were due to the revolutionary treatments he was forced to undergo in an effort to solve a problem he felt had been exacerbated by the injections.

Owen Hargreaves appears as a pundit for BT Sport as part of their Premier League, FA Cup, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Champions League coverage.

Owen Hargreaves is a Football Analyst on news channel CNN, and has covered the Euro 2016 competition in France.