Owen Hargreaves

On May 31, the World Cup of Soccer hosted by the Democratic Republic of Korea and the Empire of Japan begins. If you're a Canadian, with no links to the thirty-two teams competing for the ultimate prize of soccer and are not sure which team you should support, here is one possibility. Cheer for England.

Why England? Because we share traditions? A monarchy? A language? No! No! No! Not all Canadians share the British traditions or the English language. And according to the latest polls only 5% of Canadians know Her Majesty is our head of State. No England could be a good choice because of one man:

Owen Hargreaves.

Who is Owen Hargreaves, and what does he mean to me, a Canadian. Well, he's a soccer player. He plays Midfield. And he was born in Calgary, Alberta.

How did this Canuck end up playing for England in the World Cup. Well the young player, who was once considered a possible poster boy for Canadian Soccer, has a father who happened to be born in England. His mother was Welsh and so he had the possibility to play for three countries: England, Wales, Germany (where he is apliccable due to residency) and our home and native land.

Owen Hargreaves was born January 20, 1981, in Calgary, Alberta.

He grew up on Hockey rather than Soccer because, hey this is Canada. Most people can't name a single Canadian footballer (in Euro-sense). But because his father was English (and they like Soccer), he picked up the game and played on Calgary's FC Foothill Calgary, which won the Canadian Under-15 championship.

He became one of the most looked at Canadian prospects, and in 1997 signed with Football Club Bayern of Munich, Germany. His destiny in international Soccer was made clear, to the disappointment to the two people who follow Canadian Soccer, when he played for England in a friendly. His siding with the English side is a stab in the wound for development of Soccer in this country but it gives us the opportunity to watch one of our own compete for the coveted World Cup.

Had he played for Canada, he'd be playing for a team that has only won one major tournament (the Gold Cup in 2000) and has only qualified for the World Cup once (1986). And anyway, he is probably more inspirational for Canadian soccer kids if he plays in the World Cup then if he went the route, although more honourable, of serving one's country that the likes of goaltender Craig Forrest and other Canadians who compete on our unknown national team.

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