He was 18. In the 16th minute of a Round of 16 match against Argentina at the 1998 World Cup, Michael Owen took the ball near the halfway line and ran at the Argentine defence. He went past José Chamot, left Roberto Ayala behind with a burst of pace and smashed the ball into the top corner.
Within 10 seconds a teenager from Chester had become the most exciting player in world football, with the whole planet watching.
What made Owen's goal so special?
Speed, mostly. Owen did not trick his way past two of South America's best defenders. He simply outran them, first Chamot and then Ayala, and finished with the calm of a much older player. It happened in one of the biggest rivalries in the game.
The match became one of the most dramatic in World Cup history. It finished 2-2, and Argentina won on penalties, so England went out. Owen's goal survived the result.
He became a global star overnight. Few players ever score a goal like that in a whole career, and he did it as a teenager on the biggest stage there is. It announced a new talent in the most direct way possible: raw pace and a clean finish, with no time wasted.
Tomorrow: number 19.
