Hamstring curse ends Owen’s World Cup dream

Michael Owen will be out injured until the end of the season after learning he needs surgery to repair the hamstring injury that forced him out of last weekend’s League Cup final.

Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson revealed Friday that the injury suffered by the striker had been more serious than initially thought, definitively ending any lingering hope Owen had of making England’s squad for the World Cup in June and July.

Owen limped out of Sunday’s 2-1 win over Aston Villa at Wembley just before half-time and will have an operation on Monday.

“It is a terrible blow for the lad,” Ferguson said. “It is more serious than we thought.”

There was some positive news for United fans on Friday with Ferguson revealing that England midfielder Owen Hargreaves will make his long-awaited comeback in a reserves match on Thursday.

Hargreaves, voted England’s best player at the 2006 World Cup, has not played since September 2008 because of chronic tendinitis in both knees, for which he underwent surgery last year.

His comeback has been repeatedly postponed but a glimmer of light has now appeared at the end of the tunnel.

“Owen Hargreaves has shown for the first time that he is almost ready to play,” said Ferguson. “He has been training with the first team, which has been good to see and is pencilled in for a game with the reserves on Thursday.”

Ferguson also announced that striker Federico Macheda would next week resume training for the first team following a recent injury.

“He is a good player to have back, particularly considering the loss of Michael,” Ferguson said of the Italy under-21 star, who scored two crucial goals in last season’s title run-in.

Owen’s career has been blighted by hamstring problems with the recurring injuries depriving him of the blistering pace that enabled him, at 18, to score one of the all-time great World Cup goals, for England against Argentina at France 98.

His latest setback will inevitably fuel concern that, at 30, he has reached the end of the road, but he insisted that he was looking forward to returning, fully fit, next season.

“Unfortunately the specialist says I will miss the end of the season,” he said. “I have loved every minute of my first campaign with Manchester United and have already enjoyed some memorable moments. I am determined to come back at the start of next season in peak condition.”

Owen’s injury will intensify concern over the poor quality of the playing surface at the new Wembley after Ferguson said the heaviness of the pitch “had something to do with it.”

Owen signed for United on a pay-as-you-play two-year deal before the start of this season and had scored some crucial goals, a derby winner against Manchester City and a Champions League hat-trick preceding a goal on Sunday that was reminiscent of him at his very best.

But he has generally been a peripheral figure, Ferguson preferring to deploy Wayne Rooney as a lone striker.

The lack of first-team starts has ensured Owen has been unable to convince England manager Fabio Capello to recall him to the national squad and he had recently acknowledged that he was no more than a “long shot” to make the World Cup.

Despite a record of 40 goals in 89 appearances for England, the forward has not been picked by Capello since the Italian’s second game in charge, a 1-0 friendly defeat by France in Paris in March 2008.

In the wake of Sunday’s 2-1 win at Wembley, Owen offered an insight into his frustration at being ignored by Capello.

“I’ve said many times it’s difficult for me to talk about it or find the right words because one slip of the tongue and I’m going to be on the back page,” he said.

“If I said what I think or how I feel…I would only be lying to you if I spoke about England so there is no point in asking, put it that way.”