Manchester United striker Michael Owen is going to have to miss the rest of the season due to the hamstring injury he picked up during League Cup final win over Aston Villa.

This surely serves as a big blow for Owen. Any small hope he might have had of appearing in England’s squad for the World Cup final in South Africa this summer is now is all but over.

It might look inappropriate that Sir Alex Ferguson decide to replace the Ronaldo, world’s greatest footballer, with Owen, a player already known for his problem to stay fit during his time at Newcastle United.

Eight month into his life as a player at United, Owen have made little to justify Sir Alex’s decision to bring him to the club as well as handing him the number seven jersey previously worn by many United’s best player.

Despite failing to own a place in the first eleven as well as only playing a fringe role in United’s team, there were some moments where Owen got the spotlight. Moments that surely any Manchester United fan felt thankful that he is a United player.

The Manchester derby
Owen came on as a substitute for Dimiter Berbatov in this trilling Manchester derby to score what would be the second goal he scored for United and his first at Old Trafford. Not that he was the only United goal scorer in that 4-3 win, but because he scored so late in the injury time was what made it an Owen moment not to be forgotten for ages.

United led three times but on each occasion Manchester City manage to level back thanks to United’s own clumsy mistakes. After Craig Bellamy scored City third equalizer, the match look to end in a draw only for Owen to pick up a precise pass from Ryan Giggs and score the winner in the fifth minute of a four minutes added time.

Hat-trick in Germany
In a match where Sir Alex had abandoned his traditional back four and played Michael Carrick as a sweeper flanked by Darren Fletcher and Patrice Evra, United made light of their injury problem then by winning the match over German champions Wolfsburg 3-1 thanks to a hat-trick by Owen.

United needed a point to top their Champion League group then. 14 senior players were missing and the line up for the match does little to convince that United could go on to win the match. However United did won that match thanks to a Michael Owen hat-trick, his first as a Red Devil and also his first in four years.

Carling Cup victory
United come from a goal down to win this season Carling Cup against Aston Villa. Wayne Rooney scored the winning goal for United after coming in as a substitute to an injured Owen.

However, Owen name deserve to be mention as one of those who contribute to the team victory. Villa took the lead through a well taken James Milner penalty. Seven minutes latter, Owen level the score line with a first-time finish after Richard Dunne failed to clear the ball from Berbatov only rolled it into Owen’s path.
It was a match where Owen had his hamstring injury which surely will conclude that he would not be in England’s flight to South Africa. But it was also his first taste of honor since his Liverpool playing days.