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Michael Owen has revealed he still hates two former England team-mates after their mistakes at one World Cup.
The former striker played three World Cups for his country, but never got further than the quarter-finals.
Owen became England’s youngest ever goalscorer at the World Cup in 1998 and went on to score 40 goals for the Three Lions.
And it is two teammates from that tournament – when England fell to Argentina on penalties in the last 16 – for whom he bears a particular grudge.
He named David Beckham and Paul Ince as the unfortunate souls, with the former sent off for kicking Diego Simeone in retaliation and the latter missing a penalty in the 4-3 shoot-out defeat.
Michael Owen admitted he still hates two England teammates after the 1998 World Cup
The first player he named was David Beckham, who was sent off for kicking out at Diego Simeone after making a mistake
He also dislikes Paul Ince for choosing to shoot the ball in one direction during the penalty shootout, with his attempt being saved
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‘Firstly, I don’t believe David Beckham’s kick on Diego Simeone should have been a red card, but that doesn’t matter. He made a mistake and that is where my grudge lies,” Owen said William Hill’s In front with Simon Jordan podcast.
‘For many players you only get one chance at the World Cup and he made a big mistake, he would admit that. You could say it helped get us knocked out and that’s a big thing.
“You can resent a lot of things when you use that word, and I resent a lot of things too. Paul Ince missed a penalty and I resent that he chose to shoot the ball one way rather than another, just as I resent Beckham’s decision to kick out to Simeone.
“I resent his actions for many reasons. It was a mistake that only he made and it makes you think that if he hadn’t done that, we could have beaten Argentina. I am absolutely convinced that we could have beaten them with 11 men because we were the better team. We had an incredible team, so of course I think to myself what could have happened.
‘England has a history of self-implodation. There’s Beckham’s red card and then there’s the situation where Wayne Rooney stamped Ricardo Carvalho. It makes you think that when we leave tournaments, it’s often not always for football reasons. We’re almost shooting ourselves in the foot.
‘I often go to bed wondering how we never won anything with England given the quality of some of the teams we had.’
Beckham received severe reactions from the public and press for his broadcast, and even received death threats.
David Batty also saw his penalty saved in the final kick, but Owen made no mention of him
The 1998 World Cup was Owen’s first and he became England’s youngest ever goalscorer in the tournament with a goal against Romania
Simeone had fouled the Manchester United star and rubbed his knuckles against his head as he lay down.
In revenge, Beckham swung his leg out, sending Simeone down and the referee flashing a red card early in the second half with the score at 2-2.
He admitted that it plunged him into depression and that it still lingers in his thoughts.
Meanwhile, Ince had a good penalty saved, while David Batty was also denied England’s final kick, although Owen did not mention him.