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July 19 Michael Owen, July 19th 2006Congratulations to Germany for organising a fantastic world cup. From a player’s point of view everything was exceptional and, having spoken to friends, I know that the same is true from the fans’ perspective as well. The stadiums were wonderful, very modern, with excellent facilities and always full; the transport was efficient and the hotels excellent; and everyone was fantastically helpful. They also all spoke impeccable English, which helps! The players were provided with everything we could possibly need.
A lot of my friends and family went to Germany and they all spoke wonders of the tournament too. They loved the stadiums, they were impressed with how easy and cheap it was to get about and they have all been raving about the fans festivals that have been laid on in all the cities – every city had giant screens and lots of special events laid on for the supporters. That, they said, helped to create a real party atmosphere, with fans mixing trouble-free and spending time singing songs together and really enjoying the football. In that sense, it is sometimes a shame to be involved as a footballer – you don’t always appreciate just what a huge event the world cup is, how much of a global party it can become.
One thing my friends said really struck me. They kept telling me that all the stadiums were incredibly clean. The reason was a simple but effective idea: every drink came with a Euro deposit for the “glass” (it was plastic). That automatically meant the everyone took their glasses back at the end of the game instead of leaving them around and letting rubbish pile up, because that way they got a bit of their money back. Even in the simple things, the Germans arranged a great world cup. Let’s hope South Africa can do the same in four years’ time. July 18 Michael Owen, July 18th 2006The truth is that when you have suffered a serious injury, you watch football in a different way. In fact, sometimes it’s hard to watch it at all. You can’t help but feel slightly less enamoured with the game and you don’t enjoy it as much. Nonetheless, I did watch the rest of the tournament after suffering my injury against Sweden and there were times when I found myself fascinated by it, as well as by players who really impressed me.
As England got knocked out in the quarter-finals, I ended up disappointed, while I was also surprised by how little impact Brazil and Argentina had on the World Cup. Argentina at least started well and promised great things – they were simply sensational against Serbia and Montenegro – but I felt that Brazil never really got going.
Apart from Italy, who I thought looked superbly organised and tactically very astute (if not exactly breathtakingly exciting) throughout the tournament, the big success story for me was Germany. No one expected anything from them and just a few months ago, Jurgen Klinsmann was under intense pressure. He did not look like he was going to win anyone over but by the end of the tournament everyone was desperate for him to stay on. The third-fourth place play off is normally a nothing match but for Germany it was a chance to celebrate their achievements: a semi-final place, the best young player of the tournament in Lucas Podolski, and the top scorer, Miroslav Klose.
I was very impressed with Klose. He scored 5 goals, the same as at the last world cup when Ronaldo beat him to the Golden boot, but he has also developed. Last time, he scored them all with his head, this time he proved that he has a greater all round game than that. Apparently, Klinsmann encouraged him to practice with both feet at home by trying to turn the lights out by kicking the ball at the switches. I’m sure he must have broken a few ornaments, but there’s no doubt that the practice paid off! July 07 Nine million campaignFootball has given me so much, which is why I am so happy to be supporting the Nine Million Campaign to use football to help refugee children throughout the world. There are 20 million refugees, of which nine million are children, and the campaign aims to help them by raising money and awareness. The project aims to provide education and opportunities for children. A third of the money raised will be used to hand out nine million specially-developed hard-wearing footballs - one for every child in refugee camps all over the world - in an attempt to bring some joy to their lives. The chance to play and have fun might seem basic but it is denied to too many kids. FilmsI must confess I'm not much of a movies man. At home, I grab the telly control and put on the football, the horse racing or the sports news. Otherwise, it's only ever cartoons for my little daughter Gemma. I don’t tend to watch films and I reckon I have only been to the cinema about three times in my entire life. I haven’t been for ages and ages - apart from going to the Premiere of "Goal!" because of Newcastle United. I've seen "Real Madrid, the Movie" too for the same reason. But if I had to name a Top Five, it would be virtually impossible; in fact, I would struggle to name five films I have ever seen! "Jurassic Park", I've seen. My dad told me I had to watch "Sea Biscuit" once so I watched it at home, fell asleep and woke up with the music from the closing credits playing. I saw "Cool Runnings" when I was about ten, my mate Jamie Carragher loves "Jerry Maguire" and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", but I haven’t seen either. So, I reckon my top five would have to be "Rocky." "Rocky I", " Rocky II", "Rocky III", "Rocky IV" and " Rocky V". Ha ha! That's my top five! July 06 What the world cup means back homeWhen you play in a big world cup match, you know it's massive back home but you never quite appreciate the sheer scale of it - or at least, you don’t see the details. It's not just 50 million supporters back home, it's that there is only one game on and it's yours, it's that people are watching all over the world. It's only afterwards when you come home that you reflect on it and someone says: "Oh, you should have seen the pub when you scored". And then you think: "How many pubs are there in England? And how many households?" You know it's big but sometimes it takes somebody to say something like that for you to fully appreciate it, to think: "Yeah, it must be unbelievable."
I was an England fan once myself as a kid so I have been through the traumas of getting knocked out on penalties in Italy; I know the highs and lows. It will be strange when I retire and go back to being a fan again. After all, that's what all of us are - as well as players, we're all fans. It's great to be able to do something about it, instead of watching it on the telly and kicking every ball but doing it emotionally rather than physically.
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