Michael Owen talks about his England career so far, picks out the highlights of playing for his country and talks about his Liverpool team-mates in the national squad.

Michael, how much did your achievements for the England youth sides prepare you for senior international football?
 
"Well, the whole point of playing youth football is to prepare you for the full team, same at club level you play through the ranks to prepare you for playing for the first team. I played for England schoolboys at fifteen and then at every level up. I only played one under-21 game, and then I was into the full senior squad, so it certainly prepared me. It's similar to playing European football at the club really, but it's certainly different to playing domestic league.
 
Is it fair to say you were almost more famous playing for the England team than you were as a Liverpool player?
 
"Well yeah, and a lot of that came down to going away to Lilleshall, the national centre of excellence, for a couple of years. I was away from the club for two years at 14 to 15 years of age so that had a lot to do with it. I was knocking in the goals for the under-15s and that was being broadcast live on television and I had a bit of press coverage going with it, so I think the first time people had heard of me was playing for England."
 
Did that perhaps add any extra pressure being under the spotlight so early?
 
"I suppose a little bit when you come back to the club, not many people have seen you play, you've just got a little bit of a reputation really from playing for England so you can feel a few eyes focussed on you, seeing if you are that good. I came back to Liverpool to join as a YTS and start full team training and you know I hadn't really been there much. I'd been at the school of excellence for a year or two when I was younger. The likes of Stevie Gerrard and everyone else had been here solid for them two years that I'd been missing and quite important years of my career as well, so I did feel a bit like the new kid coming into school for the first time."
 
What are your memories of your full international debut?
 
"I played Chile at Wembley. It was my full debut, Glenn Hoddle was the manager and I started the game. Good memories making my debut and whatever, but we got beat two nil at home which was not a nice start to my international career but it was good to get my first cap and that set the ball rolling really."
 
It was less than 12 months after you'd made your Liverpool debut that you made your England debut. Was it almost a race against time to get to the World Cup in 1998?
 
"I did feel that the World Cup had come too early for me at one stage of the season but the closer and closer we got to the World Cup, the more and more I thought I had a chance. By the time we went away, I was in the last twenty, thirty players, and at that stage I thought I was going to get in because I was playing well. I scored a goal away in Morocco and I think Glenn Hoddle was asked the question in the press conference and he gave a couple of favourable answers, so that eased the tension of D-Day when he named the squad."
 
It was a bit of an eventful day in Morocco as well, didn't you get knocked out in that match?
 
"Yeah, I got a blow to the head which wasn't too pleasant. I managed to dust myself down and get up and score my first international goal, so that was a particularly pleasing day."
 
I'm sure that the 1998 World Cup ranks high on the highlights of your England career or is the hat-trick in Munich what you're most proud of?
 
"I've got a lot of good memories from my international career. My goal in the World Cup against Argentina was a fantastic moment for me. It never came to anything in the end but obviously it holds a special place in my heart. The hat-trick away in Munich was brilliant and the goal against Brazil in the quarter finals of the World Cup was special too. To go one-nil up against a nation like Brazil was unbelievable really, but again it came to nothing and we lost the game but they're probably the three main highlights out of my England career.
 
With yourself, Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher and your old team-mate Emile Heskey in Portugal, the England squad has a real Liverpool feel to it. Does that help?
 
"Well it's nice. I think all the goals in Munich were scored by Liverpool players so that was special for the club. We have traditionally had a lot of players in the England squad, especially over the last few years. At one point I think there were six or seven players in the England squad at the same time, so it's nice to go down and have your mates with you. As much as England is about picking the best players from different clubs, if you can get different players and they're all playing at the same club then there's no harm done. They know each others game inside out, that's been shown with Man United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and Newcastle. There's not many players come from outside them five teams, so it's quite useful to have players playing alongside you that you know their game."
 
Even though he's now joined Birmingham, you know more about playing alongside Emile Heskey than anyone. What are his strengths as a striking partner?
 
"Well, his strength, that's one of his main strengths. When he's in the right frame of mind he can be unplayable. I've seen him play many a game and defenders just don't know how to play him, whether to drop off or try to wrestle with him. Whatever they do they come unstuck when he's playing well and the key for everyone, players and staff is to try and get him in that sort of mood, in that zone as many times as possible. When he is firing on all cylinders he can be an unplayable player. There's not many players in the world that have those attributes and we all want to see it more often honestly because he's got the ability."
 
Steven Gerrard is another player with a huge influence. Is he the kind of player that can almost make it easy for yourself to score goals as some of the balls that he plays to you seem perfect?
 
"That's right, me and Stevie have got a bit of an understanding. We've been playing in the same team since we were about ten years old, so I don't think I've played in many teams without playing alongside Steven Gerrard. I got into the first team here a bit earlier, but he was quickly establishing himself in the reserves and then straight into the first team. Stevie and me have come right through, the same age, all the England get-togethers and youth team games, and now we play in the first team so we have got that understanding. He knows my runs inside out and I know what he's thinking as soon as he gets the ball."
 
Jamie Carragher's another player who you've played with at all levels. What can he offer to the England side?
 
"Carra's been on the edge of the squad for a few years now but he's been a bit unlucky. He suffered a broken leg but as soon as he gets back, he's playing straight away. I don't know many players who can suffer a broken leg and then just come back and be at the top of their game but he certainly looks to be on top of his game."
 
Is the all-time England goalscoring record a target you think you can reach?
 
"Well, anything's possible in the game. I've still got time on my side. I'm 24 now, so as long as I stay fit and healthy and in the team, then it's such a good team that you're going to get chances to score goals. It is a target that I've got one eye on, but it's still many, many years away and many, many goals away.
 
What can this England team achieve?
 
"I said prior to the World Cup in Japan that we've got a young side and even though I thought we had a good chance of progressing in that tournament, I still thought the best years were to come and probably in the World Cup in Germany. We're two years short of that, and we're heading towards a European Championship so everyone is reaching their peak. Every team that wins a World Cup or a European Championship have all been very experienced and been together for a long time and I certainly feel as if this team that we've got assembled now has been developing gradually over the last few years. Hopefully we can bear the fruits of that because we have got some world-class players in our team. You watch the training sessions down at England and some of the players are amazing. If we can just keep developing then we could win something really big."