Hat Tirck of Owen

"Knowingly unstoppable player, thy name is Owen!"

The exclamation is about Michael Owen (22, Liverpool), the striker of England`s national soccer team. Out of 218 games in the Premier League, the pro soccer league of England, he recorded goals in 116 of them. Playing in 44 A matches so far (A match means a game between two national teams), he has pocketed 18 shoots into the net. It was Owen who also scored goals against Denmark (round of 16) and Brazil (semi-quarterfinal) in the Korea/Japan World Cup this year. He is one of the best strikers in the world.

He is always the number one target of the opponent`s defenses. His swiftness, coupled with his ability to dash in and make goals, strains other team`s players. Nonetheless, even sandwiched between defenses, he quickly maneuvers himself out and shoots a goal into the net. He is well up to his nickname "Wonder Boy."

On Oct. 23rd, he proved himself again. It was in the first game of Group B in the European Champions League 2002-2003 against Spartak in Moscow.

At `29, Owen scored one goal with his heading shoot, tying the game 1-1 for his team. But he did not stop there. He made two more goals, recording a hat trick and pulling out a victory of 3-1 for his team.

Thus, Liverpool has won 2 games with one loss and one tie, putting itself in the second place in the group, a better position for the advancement to the tournament. On the other hand, Spartak has lost all 4 games, failing to pull itself out of the bottom place.

PSV Eindhoven, a Netherlands team led by former Korea`s national team coach Guus Hiddink, recorded a tie with a German team in an away game. Thus, with 2 ties and one loss, Eindhoven remained at the bottom of Group A.

Madrid (Spain), which boasts of all the superstar players like Ronaldo, Jidan and Pigu, just recorded a 2-2 tie with AEK Athens (Greece) to the surprise of all.

With the two goals of Steve McMana from England, Madrid was leading the game. But in the latter half, it allowed 2 goals to Athens. Madrid, which won the championship last year, now ranks on top of Group C.

stt77@donga.com