Owen Lee Hargreaves (born 20 January 1981 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada) is a football (soccer) midfielder who plays for the English national team and Bayern Munich.
Hargreaves left Canada as a 16 year-old in 1997, signing with Bayern Munich to play with their reserve side. Hargreaves would toil in the shadows for years, until given the opportunity to replace a suspended Stefan Effenberg in the 2001 UEFA Champions League, where his performance surpassed expectations. Hargreaves has since been a regular for Bayern, capable of playing all positions in the midfield, and occasionally plays at right back. Hargreaves was the first player to score in the Allianz Arena and has signed a new contract in 2005 which commits him to Bayern until 2010.
Hargreaves made his international debut for England on August 31, 2000 when he was called up for the Under 21 team against Georgia. He played two more games for the England U21, against Italy and Spain, before making his full international debut on August 15, 2001.
Hargreaves has 29 caps with the English national team, as of 7 September 2005. Although he spent his entire childhood in Calgary, his parentage made him eligible for both the English and Welsh national teams, and his long-time residence in Germany would have made him eligible for their team as well. Hargreaves played for England at the 2002 World Cup and Euro 2004.
