BAYERN & MAN UTD STAR OWEN HARGREAVES
NEEDLESS to say, the only England player who scored in yet another traumatic penalty shoot-out had learned to keep his nerve from 12 yards in German football.
Owen Hargreaves was voted the Three Lions’ player of the year in 2006, when he was at the peak of his powers as a midfield linchpin with Bayern Munich.
The fall-out from England’s World Cup quarter-final exit against Portugal 14 years ago was mainly focused on Wayne Rooney’s red card and Cristiano Ronaldo’s wink.
But it was also a showcase for Hargreaves’ good habits – unfussy, neat in possession and industrious off the ball – all of them traits straight from the Bundesliga textbook.
“As a learning ground, Bayern Munich ticked every box,” he said. “And the Bundesliga is an exceptional place to play football. Every stadium is pretty much full each week, the infrastructure is world-class and the cream rises to the top.
“If it’s not the strongest league in Europe, it’s something for the Germans to be proud of. Am I surprised there have not been more English players who have tested themselves in the Bundesliga? Yeah, it is a little curious.”
It is 43 years since Kevin Keegan left Liverpool for Hamburg. Remarkably, only four more England internationals have since followed him – Hargreaves, Tony Woodcock, Dave Watson (briefly), and Jadon Sancho.
Arguably, Scots have made as much impact as the English: Paul Lambert won the European Cup at Borussia Dortmund, while Mark Mcghee, Murdo Macleod and Alan Mcinally were all respected in their adopted parishes.
Hargreaves conquered every
HERR we go, live football is back in Germany.
Those who may feel a little nervous about betting on a relatively unknown league should remember these things.
1: It is an elite league and that means the players and teams of this standard always show a level of consistency.
2) That should particularly apply in Germany where the players are used to taking a mid-winter break.
3) You’re unlikely to be swayed by club loyalty or a dislike of teams.
So have a bit of fun this weekend..and follow the facts about the Bundesliga. Expect horizon at Bayern, whose lastgasp equaliser at Hamburg in 2001 pinched the title by a point from Schalke, whose fans were already celebrating on the pitch after beating Unterhaching 5-3.
“A couple of weeks later we went on to win the Champions League final against Valencia on pens,” said Hargreaves goals. The average goals per game in Germany is 3.25 compared to 2.72 in England. Last season, the average was over three goals a game, too. Both to score happens in 59 per cent of German games compared to 53 per cent here and that’s because away teams score more in Germany than in England.
Teams that are involved in most goal-fests are Borussia Moenchengladbach, Paderborn, Augsburg, Leipzig and
Frankfurt.
And goals mean goalscorers. Bayern’s Robert Lewandowski tops the charts and Dortmund’s wunderkids Jadon (below). “Not a bad way for a 20-year-old kid to end his first season in senior football.”
As if to prove the magic of youth was transferrable, he joined Manchester United and won the title and Champions League again in 2008 before injuries curtailed his career.
In the end, his knee was in such a state that he could climb the stairs of the house he bought in Manchester but he couldn’t get back down again because it was too painful, and he ended up living on the couch.
“From a football perspective, I grew up learning to play the German way,” he said.
“The training sessions are super-competitive and they don’t do anything by halfmeasures. That’s why they have won the World Cup three times and reached another three finals in the last 12 tournaments.
“If any player who had an
THE BETTING BOYS
KEVIN PRICE
Sancho and Erling Haaland will be popular. But look out for former Burnley striker Rouwen Hennings, (below). He scores the highest proportion of goals for his team, Fortuna Dusseldorf, and they’re
playing bottom club Paderborn.