Owen’s Double Target

Fresh from a 0-8 defeat in Poland on Saturday, Azerbaijan now have the task of denying Michael Owen a goalscoring double when they face England in the World Cup qualifier at Newcastle tomorrow.Fresh from a 0-8 defeat in Poland on Saturday, Azerbaijan now have the task of denying Michael Owen a goalscoring double when they face England in the World Cup qualifier at Newcastle tomorrow.

Michael now needs just one more goal to equal Gary Lineker’s [pictured]record of 22 goals for England in competitve matches.

A single strike mean he will also draw level with Alan Shearer, Nat Lofthouse and Tom Finney as the all-time fourth-highest England scorer with 30 goals.

Michael told the FA’s official web site: “I didn’t think we would be talking about records this early in my career. If it’s the case that two goals would give me a record, that would obviously be very nice.

“I thought if I stayed fit and in form I would score a good few goals for England. I’ve still only got 29. I know what’s required and 49 is ultimately the target, but until I get into the 40s I can’t think about it too seriously.

“Poland winning 8-0 has got everyone thinking that there could be a few goals about. Many years ago there were plenty of cricket scores, but it doesn’t happen as much as it used to because football has changed.

“If there’s an opportunity to score a few, we’ll be pressing for them for the sake of our goal difference - we would have preferred it if Poland hadn’t won 8-0.”

The current list of the leading all-time England scorers is:

49 — Sir Bobby Charlton (Manchester United)
48 — Gary Lineker (Leicester City, Everton, Barcelona, Tottenham Hotspur)
44 — Jimmy Greaves (Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur)
30 - Sir Tom Finney (Preston North End)
30 — Nat Lofthouse (Bolton Wanderers)
30 — Alan Shearer (Southampton, Blackburn Rovers, Newcastle United)
29 — Michael Owen (Liverpool, Real Madrid)
29 — Vivian Woodward (Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea)
28 — Steve Bloomer (Derby County, Middlesbrough)
27 — David Platt (Arsenal, Sampdoria, Juventus, Bari, Aston Villa)
26 — Bryan Robson (West Bromwich Albion, Manchester United)
24 — Sir Geoff Hurst (West Ham United)
23 — Stanley Mortensen (Blackpool)
22 — Tommy Lawton (Everton, Chelsea, Notts County)
21 — Mick Channon (Southampton, Manchester City)
21 — Kevin Keegan (Liverpool, SV Hamburg, Southampton)
20 — Martin Peters (West Ham United, Tottenham Hotspur)