Imagine the scenario … there are 10 minutes to go in the World Cup final and England are 1-0 down.

Fabio Capello can choose between Michael Owen and Darren Bent to come off the bench and rescue England’s World Cup dream. Who will he turn to?

A man with 40 England goals to his name and bags of international experience who has played for three of Europe’s biggest clubs? Or a striker with four caps, no international goals and a reputation for blowing hot and cold?

It seems Capello, the man credited with dragging England out of the doldrums and restoring their battered reputation, favours the latter.

The England manager effectively banged another nail in Owen’s World Cup coffin by selecting Sunderland’s Bent ahead of him for his squad to face Brazil on Nov. 14th.

And while the Italian says the England door remains open for Owen, his habit of leaving the country’s fourth highest international goalscorer kicking his heels means the above scenario in which he is forced to choose between Owen and another striker is unlikely to occur.

The Italian, who recently described the former Real Madrid and Liverpool poacher as his ‘tormentor’, has frequently re-iterated that players who are unfit and not firing for their clubs will drop out of contention.

While the principle is no doubt grounded in common sense, the question of whether or not Owen merits being an exception to his iron rule just won’t go away.

Owen would be many fans’ choice to come off the bench and grab a goal should England find themselves in a spot of bother at a crucial point in next June’s tournament.

But Capello is no gambler and remains reluctant to wager one of his 23 squad places on a player who may only be able to make a decisive contribution in short, sharp bursts.

“The players with us in South Africa will be all fit,” Capello said recently. “It’s impossible to wait for one player. Little things are okay, but bigger problems and they will not be there.

“If you have to recover someone it’s no good. When we go it will not be the warm season, when it’s easier to recover. It will be cold in South Africa.”

The England manager worries the wintery conditions could lead to an injury crisis that would deprive him of his first-choice frontline.

And few could blame him for refusing to trust Owen’s hamstrings to hold up should the forward be required to fulfil more than a cameo role.

But let’s imagine another scenario … Wayne Rooney, Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe are all ruled out through injury or suspension during the tournament. Could England realistically win the World Cup with Bent leading the line?

This question is perhaps at the heart of Capello’s decision to give the Sunderland frontman a chance to impress before the squad for South Africa is finalised.

PHOTO: Manchester United’s Michael Owen (L) scores against CSKA Moscow’s during their Champions League soccer match at Old Trafford in Manchester, northern England, November 3, 2009. REUTERS/Phil Noble

Should he fail against Brazil, the case for taking a gamble on Owen, Capello’s bête-noir, will only be stronger.

Rarely can a defeat, and such a heart-breaking one at that, have been greeted with so much enthusiasm by the losers as Manchester City’s 4-3 reverse at Old Trafford.

Sports professionals are forever banging on about “taking the positives” from setbacks but for everyone connected with City, their performance and the whole occasion on Sunday showed that they really will be a force to be reckoned with over the next few months and years.

Despite being shorn of several of their best players and going behind after two minutes, City hung on to United like a terrier with a mouthful of trouser.

Every time United shook them off with a goal, they came back with a tighter bite. Even when the champions were peppering their goal during a period of dominance in the second half, City stayed in the game.

They were felled by Michael Owen’s 96th-minute winner, sparking wild scenes on the touchline and some enjoyable jousting from the managers.

Current England rugby manager Martin Johnson has said that he felt sure England would win the 2003 World Cup final after seeing how Australia celebrated their semi-final win over New Zealand and United’s joy, even allowing for the dramatic nature of the finale, was a few notches up on anything seen in a derby win for decades.

“They seemed quite excitable at the end which shows you what this win means to them,” said Mark Hughes. “It was reminiscent of some of the scenes with Brian Kidd and Alex Ferguson in days gone by and I saw Gary Neville running on the pitch like a lunatic.”

A smiling Alex Ferguson said: “Sometimes you’ve got a noisy neighbour and you have to live with it. You can’t do anything about them and they keep on making noise.”

Hughes responded by saying his former boss had better get used to it. “We are not going to go away,” he said.

Ferguson, for once, decided not to pass comment on City’s spending power — which was probably a good idea given the fact that his team on Sunday cost an estimated 126 million pounds to the 122 of City.

But he knows that the funding City have will keep them on an upward trend and that performances and occasions like that on Sunday - for all the defensive frailties on show - will help attract more big names next time the transfer window opens.

“We are disappointed to leave here with nothing, but that shows how far this club has come,” said Kolo Toure. “We showed to everyone today we have the qualities and the spirit to mix it up with the big boys.”

Ferguson photo by Phil Noble

Michael Owen missed four glorious chances in Manchester United’s 2-0 friendly win over Valencia but the very fact that he was there to miss them signals a real chance of the former Liverpool reviving his career for club and country.

Owen’s failure to find the net was described as a wasted opportunity by some, given that England coach Fabio Capello was there watching him, but consider … playing for Newcastle at the end of last season, when did he look in with a chance of scoring even one?

Here’s what Alex Ferguson said about Owen’s display:

“Michael showed marvellous movement. He should’ve scored four, but he was unlucky with the first one that he just chipped it over the goalkeeper’s shoulder and by the post. He deserved at least one of them.”

Whether he deserved to score or not is beside the point, which is that playing in this United team he can expect to have chances every time he plays. He scored four on United’s tour of the Far East and if he fluffed his lines on his Old Trafford debut he can safely reflect that it was only a dress rehearsal for the new season after all.

As for England, the fact that he is playing for United alongside Wayne Rooney will only help. Assuming he starts scoring in the Premier League, and given the sheer number of chances he can expect that seems inevitable, how long before Capello decides to translate the United forward partnership to the England set-up?

PHOTO: Manchester United’s Michael Owen reacts after a missed opportunity during their friendly soccer match against Valencia in Manchester August 5, 2009. REUTERS/Nigel Roddis

Most Manchester United fans will not have been excited when they heard of the club’s plans to sign Michael Owen. The experienced England striker certainly did not fit the usual profile of Alex Ferguson’s signings, at too old and far too injury-prone.

But could Owen prove to be another one of Ferguson’s transfer masterstrokes to rank alongside the likes of Eric Cantona and Henrik Larsson?

The departures of Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez have left United very short of attacking options, leaving Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov as the only experienced forwards at Old Trafford.

Danny Wellbeck and Federico Macheda are promising players but surely not ready to play regularly at the highest level. So why not bring in Owen to help their development, a player with 40 international goals and despite his recent injury problems, a good scoring record throughout his career even in a poor Newcastle side over the last four years?

Ferguson surely has nothing to lose. Owen cost nothing, is on a salary dependent on the number of games he plays and the number of goals he scores. He is desperate to play at next year’s World Cup and, after a few years in the wilderness, has everything to prove at the age of 29. He could barely disguise the grin on his face during interviews on Saturday.

Owen to Manchester United could be a disaster on both sides. But, equally, it could be a match made in heaven.

PHOTO: Michael Owen (L) leaves the Bridgewater hospital in Manchester after undergoing a medical before signing for United, July 3, 2009. REUTERS

On the face of it, replacing world player of the year Cristiano Ronaldo with an injury-prone forward whose side just got relegated does not seem like a great bit of business.

The British media is certain that Michael Owen, a free agent after leaving Newcastle United, is on the verge of joining Manchester United if he passes a stringent medical.

Has Alex Ferguson gone mad? Far from it. Having banked 80 million pounds from the sale of Ronaldo to Real Madrid, he is poised to bring in one of English football’s most renowned goalscorers for free. And Owen is still under 30.

Even if Owen only ends up playing half a season, he will still be able to contribute and his England partnership with Wayne Rooney always looked promising.

However, United fans will hope Owen and Wigan’s Antonio Valencia will not be the only new recruits.

What do you reckon? An inspired signing or a gamble doomed to failure?

PHOTO: Newcastle United’s Michael Owen reacts during their FA Cup third round replay against Hull City, Jan. 14, 2009. REUTERS/Nigel Roddis

Quite how far Michael Owen’s career has nosedived was underlined at the weekend when the Newcastle United striker was again overlooked for his country despite the lack of attacking options for coach Fabio Capello.

Capello watched three of his squad strikers hobble off at Wembley on Saturday during the 4-0 friendly victory over Slovakia with Emile Heskey and Carlton Cole both ruled out of Wednesday’s World Cup qualifier against Ukraine.

With Peter Crouch also carrying a knock, surely the time had come for Capello to get on the telephone to Owen, a player with 40 goals in 89 appearances for his country and who was voted Europe’s best player in 2001.

Instead, Capello bluntly dismissed the case for Owen, saying he felt the striker was not playing well enough for his club. Capello turned to the much-maligned Darren Bent, a willing runner but hardly a finisher in the same class as Owen.

It is hard to see where Owen now fits into Capello’s plans. The Italian appears to favour a big target man playing in tandem with the versatile Wayne Rooney. Owen’s penalty area prowess is clearly not enough for Capello.

At 29, and after a series of injuries, Owen does not have the explosive pace that was once his trademark and he can look hesitant in front of goal. He has scored just once in his last 10 matches for relegation-haunted Newcastle and it is a year since he last played for England.

So is there any hope of an international return for the former Liverpool man? A move away from St James’ Park would be a first step but any journey back to the top of European football looks like being a long and painstaking one.

HAPPIER TIMES: Michael Owen poses alongside Fabio Capello at the launch of the England team’s new away kit, February 4, 2008. REUTERS/Eddie Keogh

Rafa Benitez needs to pull a rabbit from the hat again in the New Year but if Liverpool are going to end that long wait for a title they need a more creative player than Michael Owen.

If Liverpool fans with longish memories have faith that the coming of a striker can make the difference you can understand why. The last time Liverpool were champions, back in 1990, their successful run-in was inspired by Ronny Rosenthal, an Israeli forward who arrived seemingly from nowhere on or near deadline day (my memory’s a bit fuzzy).

Gerard Houllier tried to repeat the trick by signing Nicolas Anelka in 2002 and Benitez tried Fernando Morientes in 2005 before bringing back ’God’ himself when he signed Robbie Fowler at the start of 2006. None of them did the required business.

Even though Liverpool could presumably pick Michael Owen up on the cheap, given that his contract at Newcastle is up at the end of the season, I believe the temptation to bring back another striker should be resisted.

Liverpool don’t need an out-an-out goalscorer, even if it’s true that they have struggled to find the net this season. Benitez has enough options up front as it is, even if Torres isn’t fit. Ryan Babel is eager for opportunities, David “Wash” Ngog has potential and Robbie Keane… well, presumably he’ll start scoring regularly soon.

What Liverpool need, as they have done for a long time, is more creativity in midfield. They need genuine inspiration, a player who can bring gasps from the crowd and give opposition defences more, much more, to worry about.

The last Liverpool player who could do that was Jari Litmanen, signed in January 2001 by Houllier but injured for much of the rest of that season and left on the sidelines for too much of the following campaign. Here’s Liverpool’s official website verdict on the Finn:

“Litmanen’s career at Anfield will go down as a case of what might have been. Despite his undoubted skill and creativity many supporters will say he was underused at Anfield.” Says it all, really.

In recent transfer windows Benitez has made really useful defensive signings like Daniel Agger and Martin Skrtel. Now it’s up to the coach to prove he can show the same eye for a creative midfielder.

I assume Franck Ribery, Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are not for sale at any price, but there must be players out there who could give Liverpool’s midfield a bit more of the wow factor. Who do you think he should go for?

PHOTO: Liverpool’s Michael Owen (L) and his team mate Jari Litmanen celebrate a goal against Bayer Leverkusen during their Champions League quarter-final second leg match in Germany, April 9, 2002. REUTERS/Michael Dalder

Fabio Capello said Michael Owen’s England career is not necessarily over after omitting the Newcastle man from his squad again for the Kazakhstan and Belarus World Cup qualifiers.

But the manager’s history in Serie A suggests it’s going to be mighty tough for Owen to get back.

Capello was in charge of similar footballers during his stints at AS Roma and Juventus in Vincenzo Montella and Alessandro Del Piero.

Like Owen, they are small, fast technically polished forwards with highly prolific track records.

And, like Owen, they were consistently pushed down the pecking order by Capello.

Although a past-his-best bit player at Roma now, Montella remains one of Serie A’s all-time top scorers and he was at his peak at the start of Capello’s time in the Italian capital.

The coach’s insistence on using the tiring Gabriel Batistuta at the end of the 2000-01 season instead of the on-fire Montella smacked of pure obstinacy to many Roma fans at the time. (more…)

Fabio Capello’s less than spectacular start to life as England coach has been forgotten of late, as the back pages have been dominated by the petrodollars at Manchester City, the mysterious goings on at Newcastle, where Kevin Keegan has not been seen for three days, and Alan Curbishley’s sudden resignation as West Ham manager.

With World Cup qualifiers coming up against Andorra and Croatia Capello will soon have everyone’s attention again … and he is about to discover the size of the task that awaits him.

The Italian was given a tough time by England’s ruthless football writers after an unimpressive 2-2 draw against the Czech Republic last month, when most of the country’s eyes were focused on the battle for gold medals in Beijing.

Only a 10-0 victory against Andorra in Barcelona is likely to gain him plaudits in Sunday’s papers and should England suffer a third consecutive defeat by Croatia, the team that haunted their doomed attempt to qualify for Euro 2008, all hell will break loose.

The Italian has put his head squarely on the chopping block by choosing a squad without the country’s best striker, Michael Owen.

The four strikers he has selected, Wayne Rooney, Emile Heskey, Theo Walcott and Jermain Defoe, have managed just 24 goals between them for England. Owen has 40 on his own.

While Capello could select a bunch of park strikers to beat Andorra, not even considering Owen for the Croatia match, one that could determine the outcome of a tough but not daunting group, could come back to haunt the coach.

Sadly for England, just as the domestic game gets richer and richer, the cupboard looks increasingly bare at international level.

With Steven Gerrard injured there is a real possibility that Fulham’s Jimmy Bullard, an honest player but hardly one to set the pulse racing, could be called in to play a midfield role in Zagreb after his shock call-up.

In some ways that is a refreshing prospect.

With all the money sloshing around the Premier League, the idea that a bloke who learned the game playing non-league football in the Thames estuary can be England’s knight in shining armour restores a little faith in the beautiful game.

PHOTO: Fabio Capello attends an England training session in London Colney, August 18, 2008. REUTERS/ Eddie Keogh