Owen sends a message out to Capello

6 days away from his 30th birthday, Michael Owen scored his first hat-trick for Manchester United yesterday. The striker hadn't scored three goals in one match since 2005. And what a time to do it, in the Champions League under every one's attention, including England manager Fabio Capello.

Owen has been out of the England picture for a while now. Injuries and poor form at Newcastle lead to this, but ever since he signed for Manchester United, it has been speculated that he might make the final call to the England squad for South Africa 2010.

Even though Capello likes to practise a 5-4-1 formation, with no room for Owen as a targetman, or a 4-4-2, with partnership of a small and big striker with Owen's Manchester United teammate Wayne Rooney a certainty for the small striker spot, the Italian has offered Owen hope that he still might have a future in the England squad.

"I only ever call up the best players or at least the players who are most suited to the way I wish to play. Both David Beckham - who I worked with for a year at Real Madrid - and Michael Owen are wonderful professionals who could still play vital roles for England. I will never close the door to the national team on anyone", said Capello shortly after taking the job.

The player himself has been humble, saying he has to focus on his club first before dreaming of a place in his nations squad.

"England is something I don't really think about. It is probably something people talk about a lot more than I think about really. The last squad I was in was over a year ago now. I have played for England 89 times and I would love to play for England again. But I am concentrating on playing for Manchester United. I genuinely go to bed thinking that I have got to play well the next day and win games for Manchester United, not that if I score or play well I might get picked for England", said the man, who's scored 40 times in his 89 caps for England.

Looking at the competition Owen would face in the England squad, it's hard to give a concrete opinion. Whilst Wayne Rooney will be certainly picked, other spots are wide open.

Jermain Defoe is a good striker, and he recently scored 5 in one match, but he has a habit of going missing in games and wasting clear cut chances. The latter part also goes to Darren Bent. Whilst the Sunderland striker has yet to feature much under Capello, the 25 year old is in spectacular form this season with 9 goals scored. But as said, he does miss chances and hasn't really got international experience and would probably not be a very smart choice from Capello. And I'm a big fan on Bent! I backed him to end up Premier League's top scorer this season with pre-season odds of 50/1, which is now cut to 12/1. So look out for my selections for South Africa 2010!

Peter Crouch, who's incredibly got 18 goals in 17 starts for the Three Lion, might also be a automatic selection with his presence and aerial power, but his form this season hasn't been the best.

Another big man Emile Heskey has featured quite a bit under Capello, but he's not a week in week out starter at his club, Aston Villa, and might be overlooked, as Capello has said, he'll only pick players who are 100% fit for his finals squad.

From a younger generation, Heskey's Villa teammate Gabriel Agbonlahor has been part of the last couple of squads. While Theo Walcott, who was thrown into the deep end in Germany 2006 by Sven-Göran Eriksson, often struggles with injuries, even though he's a brilliant player on his day, proving that in England's win away to Croatia in the qualifying group.

Carlton Cole also deserves a mention. But he, like Bent, lacks international experience, even though he's showing good form in the league.

So, everything looks open for a England recall for Michael Owen. He already won the fans trust and Sir Alex Ferguson's backing with yesterday's hat-trick. Now it's only up to him to convince Capello with the fact, that Michael Owen is one of the most clinical finishers in the game.



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