Owen's Diego dream

Both Owen and Maradona made their names in World Cup meetings between bitter rivals England and Argentina - Owen as a raw teenager scoring a virtuoso goal in France 98 and Maradona for the now infamous hand of god in the last eight of Mexico 86 - and the Liverpool striker feels the former Napoli and Barcelona star was a true great of the game.

The 24-year-old Anfield forward, speaking at the official launch of Pele's 100 legends of football list in which both he and the Argentine are included, said:

"When it comes to the best-ever players, Maradona and Pele are way up there. I've met Pele but I've only seen the odd clip of him playing and he was special. I've played with a lot of good players and Alan Shearer is the best.

"But if you asked me who I'd like to play alongside from all-time, Maradona would have to be the one. He was a fantastic player. In the videos I've seen he was unbelievable."