One man who never had cause to worry was England coach Eriksson. Owen, scorer of 24 international goals in just 53 appearances, has netted more then anyone else during the Swede's time in charge of the national side - a fact the former Lazio manager is only too aware of.
"I'm not that worried about Michael Owen. All strikers, now and then, don't score for a couple of games. But he's coming back from injury so if he's fit, he will always be a danger for opponents."
"It might help him to have had a break. For the World Cup, we had some players not playing - Gary Neville, Steven Gerrard - and some others - Michael Owen, David Beckham - who were not 100 per cent fit.
"You can always discuss whether it was right for me to pick them and play them. But when you talk about David Beckham and Michael Owen, I think that I should do it again.
"They are two important players for the national team. I just hope that we don't have any injuries or half-injuries before the Euro 2004 finals. I think they did okay at the World Cup anyhow."
