Owen Hargreaves
Personal information
Full name	Owen Lee Hargreaves
Date of birth	20 January 1981 (1981-01-20) (age 28)
Place of birth	Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Playing position	Defensive midfielder Right midfielder Right back
Club information
Current club	Manchester United
Number	4
Youth career
1994–1997 1997–2000	Calgary Foothills Bayern Munich
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2000–2007 2007–	Bayern Munich Manchester United	145 (5) 025 (2)
National team2
2000–2001 2006 2001–	England U-21 England B England	003 (0) 001 (0) 042 (0)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18:15, 21 September 2008 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 10:34, 20 August 2008 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals) Owen Lee Hargreaves (born 20 January 1981) is a Canadian-born English, two-time UEFA Champions League winning football midfielder. He plays for Manchester United in the English Premier League and at international level for England. He is known for his high levels of fitness, stamina and tough style of play. Career [edit] FC Bayern Munich Owen Hargreaves moved at the age of sixteen from Calgary Foothills to Bayern Munich on 1 July 1997. Hargreaves played in the Under-19 team for two and a half years before spending six months with the Amateur team. Whilst with the Under 19s the team reached the Final of the German Championship in 1998. They lost in the final to Borussia Dortmund, but only after a penalty shoot-out in Dortmund's Rote-Erde Stadium. On 12 August 2000, Hargreaves played in his first Bundesliga match, making an appearance as a substitute for Carsten Jancker in the 83rd minute. His first start came against SpVgg Unterhaching on 16 September 2000. That season proved to be a triumphant one for Bayern Munich; the club were Bundesliga champions and also claimed the UEFA Champions League crown. Hargreaves's performances in the Champions League semi final against Real Madrid put him in the international spotlight as he showed he was capable of holding his own against the likes of Roberto Carlos and Luís Figo. He is one of only two English players to have won a Champions League medal with a non-English club, the other being two-time winner Steve McManaman (Real Madrid). In the 2001-02 season Hargreaves established himself as a first team regular, making 46 appearances in all. In spite of setbacks for the club in the form of a third place finish in the Bundesliga, a quarter final appearance in the Champions League and a Cup defeat by Schalke, the season proved to be a decisive one for Hargreaves as he emerged as a key player of the team. 2002-03 saw Hargreaves celebrate another domestic success as Bayern won the Bundesliga title and the DFB Cup. On 26 January 2003, Hargreaves scored his first Bundesliga goal in the game against Borussia Mönchengladbach. Unfortunately, the season also saw him out injured on three separate occasions. In September he tore a thigh muscle, then in October a calf muscle. Towards the end of the season adductor problems meant he missed a further three weeks. He racked up 25 Bundesliga appearances, four Cup games and three matches in the Champions League. The 2003-04 season was Hargreaves' first with Bayern without winning any silverware. After clinching the double the year before, the Munich side finished second in the Bundesliga, and were knocked out of the Champions League by Real Madrid. Hargreaves made a total of 38 appearances for the club in this season. In 2004-05 he picked up another German championship and DFB Cup. He had 27 appearances in the Bundesliga (one goal), played in three Cup games (two goals) and eight Champions League games. In the 2005-06 season, he added another Bundesliga and Cup title. Hargreaves scored the first goal at the new Allianz Arena in a competitive match on 5 August 2005, against Borussia Mönchengladbach. In all, he had 15 (one goal) league, four (two goals) cup and three Champions League appearances. In October 2005, he extended his contract at Bayern for another four years. In the 2006-07 season, Hargreaves was unfortunate enough to break his leg which kept him out of most of Bayern Munich's league campaign that season. But he recovered in time to help Bayern knock out Real Madrid in the Champions League with an aggregate score of 4-4, with Bayern going through on away goals thanks to their 3-2 defeat in the first leg at Madrid's Bernabéu. [edit] Manchester United On 31 May 2007, it was announced that Hargreaves would join Manchester United on 1 July 2007, after almost a year of negotiations between Bayern Munich and United for a fee of around £17 million.[1] Hargreaves was finally unveiled as a Manchester United player on 1 July, having signed a four-year contract with the club. He was then revealed to the press on 9 July, along with fellow newcomer Nani. Hargreaves was given the number 4 shirt at Old Trafford. Hargreaves made his Manchester United debut in a friendly against Peterborough United on 4 August, coming on as a second half substitute in United's 3-1 victory. He made his first Premier League appearance in Manchester United's third game of the season, in the derby match away to Manchester City in a 1-0 defeat. Hargreaves scored his first league goal for Manchester United against Fulham on 1 March, a free-kick from just outside the penalty box. He scored his second league goal for the club on 13 April, a free-kick winner against Arsenal. His first season in England was a success with Hargreaves helping Manchester United win the Premier League and Champions League titles. The start of Hargreaves' second season at United was blighted by injury worries, specifically a recurring patellar tendinitis problem that restricted him to sporadic appearances in 2007–08. After trips to specialists in both London and Sweden yielded no results, Hargreaves travelled to Colorado, United States, in November 2008 to visit renowned knee surgeon, Richard Steadman.[2][3] Hargreaves underwent surgery on his right knee on 10 November 2008 and received a similar operation on his left knee in January 2009. However, this meant that Hargreaves would miss the remainder of the 2008–09 season.[4] from : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owen_Hargreaves