Michael Owen and how he won the 2001 Ballon d'Or
The Ballon d'Or has become a major topic of discussion every year since the rise of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. While this accolade was always important, with the arrival of these two legends of the game, winning the award almost unanimously for a decade, its relevance has become even more notorious, which is why a lot of younger people are surprised when they look back and realize that Michael Owen had won said accolade in 2001.
The context
It's important to look back on Michael Owen's beginnings and remember how he was a bit of a child prodigy in the world of football. He made his debut for Liverpool's senior team in 1996 at 17 years old and quickly became one of the team's starting strikers the following season, scoring 23 goals in 44 games across all competitions in the 1997/98 campaign. It was such a solid and amazing performance that then-England manager Glenn Hoddle took him to the World Cup held in France in 1998 at just 18 years of age.This was the competition where Owen scored that legendary goal against Argentina, running past several defenders and making a great finish. While his performances were Liverpool already gave him a lot of popularity, this was the moment when a lot of non-English football fans began to notice him, making Owen one of the hottest prospects in the game. There is an argument to be made that he was the most promising young striker at the time.
In fact, during Owen's entire stint at Liverpool, there was only one season (1999/2000) where he scored less than 19 goals across all competitions (12), and that was mostly due to him struggling with injuries at the time (something that would come back to haunt him later on). However, it was the 2000/01 season the one people remember the most of Owen's career, and not only because of the Ballon d'Or he would eventually win that year but also because of the trophies Liverpool would collect.
The trophies
French manager Gerard Houlier added much-needed leadership to Liverpool at a time when the club was struggling greatly to compete. Long gone was the domination period the Reds enjoyed in the 70s and 80s, with Manchester United and Arsenal now ducking it out for major trophies every year. And while the Frenchman have Liverpool coming back to the top as most fans would have wanted, the 2000/01 season was certainly the best in a long time.Liverpool would end up winning the treble that year, albeit a minor version of what most people know it as, which was the League Cup, the FA Cup, and the UEFA Cup, nowadays known as the UEFA Europa Cup. And the team would complement that by winning the FA Charity Shield and the UEFA Super Cup during the summer of 2001, giving them a total of five trophies in a calendar year and boosting Owens' Ballon d'Or prospects.
Speaking of Owen, it would end up being his most productive to date until that point of his career, scoring a total of 24 goals in 46 games across all competitions, spreading quite evenly. While is true that Owen had two seasons where he had scored 23 goals across all competitions, this occasion was quite different: this was him scoring a lot of goals and being part of a team that was winning a lot of trophies.
This season was a much-needed confidence boost for both Owen and Liverpool as a whole, which would end up being even more rewarding by the end of the year.
2001 Ballon d'Or and its legacy
Because of the success he had with Liverpool that year, Michael Owen won the 2001 Ballon d'Or, thus becoming the last Englishman (as of this writing) to win the accolade and the first one since Michael Keegan, another Liverpool starlet, back in 1979. And while a lot of modern fans are already surprised at the fact that he won this individual award because of how his career is viewed these days, it's also fair to say that the award was controversial back then.After, Real Madrid's legendary striker, Raul, had a phenomenal season as well and ended up in the runner-up position, 36 votes behind Owen. Oliver Kahn, the legendary Bayern Munich goalkeeper, finished in third place 62 points behind Owen, despite the fact he had won the UEFA Champions League that year with Bayern against Valencia and had been pivotal in the penalty kicks.
However, it was probably the number of goals, coupled with the several trophies he won with Liverpool, that ended up tipping the scale in Owen's favor. After, he had been a very constant performer that year and was doing it as a very young player, especially compared to the experience Raul and Kahn already had. This is without mentioning the likes of Francesco Totti, Luis Figo, David Beckham, Rivaldo, and a few more players who were in the list's top ten.
Definitely one of the most controversial Ballon d'Or picks of all time and also a reminder of how good Michael Owen was back in the day.
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