Highlights

  • Michael Owen's early career was sensational, providing English football fans with memorable moments and winning the Ballon d'Or in 2001 at a young age.
  • Owen beat out incredible players like Zinedine Zidane and David Beckham to win the Ballon d'Or, showcasing his talent and achievement.
  • Owen's incredible 2001 season, including winning three trophies with Liverpool and scoring a famous hat-trick for England, showed he was deserving of the Ballon d'Or.

Isn't it about time everyone started putting more respect on Michael Owen's name? One of English football's greatest-ever goalscorers, the former Liverpool man was sensational during the early years of his career. He provided England fans with some of the most memorable moments of the past 30 years, including *that* unbelievable goal against Argentina at the 1998 World Cup, and he's only one of four English players to have won football's most coveted individual prize: the Ballon d'Or.

Following in the footsteps of Sir Stanley Matthews, Sir Bobby Charlton and Kevin Keegan (the only Englishman to win the award twice), Owen received the Ballon d'Or in 2001 at the age of 22, to his surprise.

"I couldn't believe it when I first heard the news. I knew that I was one of the five players in question, but it still seemed unbelievable to me.

"There was also [Francesco] Totti, against who we played recently, Raul and even David Beckham. Several Frenchmen were also in the race. Marco van Basten won it three times. Michel Platini as well. Add my name to that of Franz Beckenbauer, Johan Cruyff, Rivaldo, Bobby Charlton, Kevin Keegan. I am extremely proud."

Considering the level of players that he beat out to win the award, it's hardly that surprising that Owen didn't see the victory coming. We're not sure many people would have. Let's take a look at the stars he beat out.

0-9 Points

Robert Baggio, Steven Gerrard, Rui Costa, Giovane Elber, Gaizka Mendieta, Roberto Carlos, Damiano Tommasi, Sami Hyypia, Emmanuel Olisadebe, Ebbe Sand, Juan Sebastian Veron, Hernan Crespo, Henrik Larsson, Alessandro Nesta, Stefan Effenberg & David Trezeguet

England-Steven-Gerrard

While it's not quite as star-studded as a little later in the list, there are still some pretty incredible names sprinkled throughout this first set of players who were nominated for the Ballon d'Or in 2001. The likes of Steven Gerrard, Roberto Carlos, David Trezeguet, Alessandro Nesta, Hernan Crespo and Henrik Larsson all had incredible careers, and it's quite impressive that Owen managed to beat them at such a young age.

Roberto Baggio had already won the great award earlier in his career too, so he'd been at the top before. Below is a table with the full breakdown of the first 16 players nominated for the Ballon d'Or award in 2001 and the number of points they all picked up.

Ballon d'Or 2001 nominees

Number of points awarded

David Trezeguet

7

Stefan Effenberg

6

Alessandro Nesta

4

Henrik Larsson

4

Hernan Crespo

3

Juan Sebastian Veron

3

Ebbe Sand

2

Emmanuel Olisadebe

2

Sami Hyypia

2

Damiano Tommasi

2

Roberto Carlos

2

Gaizka Mendieta

2

Giovane Elber

2

Rui Costa

1

Steven Gerrard

1

Roberto Baggio

1

10-20 Points

Bixente Lizarazu, Zinedine Zidane, Thierry Henry, Andriy Shevchenko & Rivaldo

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Moving onto the players who picked up between 10 and 20 points in 2001, we've got some pretty huge names here. Zinedine Zidane, who won the Ballon d'Or award a couple of years earlier, is one of the greatest midfielders of all time and was always in and around the conversation whenever the Ballon d'Or ceremony was coming up.

He had an incredible career, as did Thierry Henry who would become one of the best forwards in the history of the Premier League. Andriy Shevchenko's career at AC Milan was as explosive as it got, and Rivaldo is another figure who already had one Ballon d'Or under his belt. Bixente Lizarazu had a fine career at Bayern Munich, winning plenty with the German club and Owen beating all five of these players is impressive, but not quite as impressive as the top five superstars that he overcame.

Ballon d'Or 2001 nominees

Number of points awarded

Rivaldo

20

Andriy Shevchenko

18

Thierry Henry

14

Zinedine Zidane

14

Bixente Lizarazu

10

The top six

Luis Figo, Francesco Totti, David Beckham, Oliver Kahn, Raul & Michael Owen

Just look at some of these stars. Owen truly came out on top in a field of genuine superstars and the top six players here are proof of that. Luis Figo and David Beckham are two of the very best midfielders to have ever played the game of football. Their legacies playing for the likes of Barcelona, Manchester United and Real Madrid were simply sensational.

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Francesco Totti became one of the best one-club men in the history of the sport, spending his entire career at AS Roma and regularly being one of the most impressive stars in football in the process. Oliver Kahn was one of the best goalkeepers in football throughout the majority of his career, and Raul is a Real Madrid legend, scoring for fun during his time in Spain with the club.

These are some of the best players to have ever stepped onto a football pitch, but a 21-year-old Owen managed to beat them all out and win the Ballon d'Or award in 2001, which is one hell of an achievement, but one he certainly deserved.

Ballon d'Or 2001 nominees

Number of points awarded

Michael Owen

176

Raul

140

Oliver Kahn

114

David Beckham

102

Francesco Totti

57

Luis Figo

56

Owen had an incredible 2001

If you have forgotten what happened in 2001, or in case you are too young to remember, Owen helped Liverpool win three trophies that year: the FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup. He scored two late goals in one of the most dramatic endings to an FA Cup final ever against Arsenal at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

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A few months later, Owen scored a famous hat-trick as England beat Germany 5-1 in a World Cup qualifier in Munich that has gone down in folklore. And following his exploits at club and international level, Owen was rewarded with the Ballon d'Or in December 2001. It's hard to argue that he didn't deserve it as well. So, yeah, while his career didn't pan out quite the way he may have wanted it to, and his work as a pundit hasn't exactly won him too many new fans, it's time we put more respect on the work that Owen was doing as a player early on. He was incredible.