In 1998, following an extraordinary year, footballer Michael Owen was named BBC Sports Personality of Year, beating heptathlete Denise Lewis and sprinter Iwan Thomas by the proverbial country mile in the public vote. Accepting the trophy from host Des Lynam, Owen, 18, said, “It’s been a great year for me. This really has topped it off. It’s been a great early birthday present.”
Owen had scored 18 goals for Liverpool on the 1997/98 Premier League campaign, earning him a share of the Golden Boot with Chris Sutton and Dion Dublin, as well as being named Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) Young Player of the Year and Premier League Player of the Season. At the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France, Owen was one of four forwards in the England squad, alongside Alan Shearer, Teddy Sheringham and Les Ferdinand. However, an equaliser after 81 minutes during a eventual 2-1 defeat by Romania at Stadium de Toulouse made him the youngest ever England goalscorer at the World Cup and earnt him a place in the starting lineup for the last-16 match against Argentina.
On June 30, at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in Saint-Étienne, Owen won a penalty after nine minutes, despite later admitting that, “I could stayed on my feet”, which allowed Alan Shearer to cancel out an early opener, also a penalty, from Gabriel Batistuta four minutes earlier. Less than ten minutes later, Owen, himself, scored a brilliant individual goal, beating two defenders before finishing beyond the reach of goalkeeper Carlos Roa. Sadly, it was not to be for England, with Javier Zanetti equalising on the stroke of half-time and David Beckham sent off for a violent conduct after a petulent, off-the-ball foul on Diego Simeone in the second half.
The match finished 2-2, after extra time, and Argentina eventually won 4-3 on penalties. Owen converted his own effort from 12 yards, but Paul Ince and David Batty had theirs saved by Roa, consigning the Three Lions to defeat. Owen later described Beckham’s retaliation as “childish and unnecessary”. Owen went on to be capped 89 times for England, scoring 40 goals; he remains the fourth-highest goalscorer for the national team, behind Sir Bobby Charlton, Gary Lineker, and Jimmy Greaves.