BALLON D'OWEN
What arguably clinched the award for Owen was his stunning hat-trick in Munich's Olympic Stadium that turned World Cup Qualifying Group Nine on its head, but that wasn't the first time in the year that Owen has had such an impact on events.
With eight minutes remaining in the FA Cup Final back in May it looked as though the Gunners would become the first side to lift the trophy at the Millennium Stadium, but in the land of his birth Owen had other ideas. The Kop hero struck a quick-fire brace to wrest the trophy from the north Londoners and send the travelling hordes of Liverpool fans back to Merseyside ecstatic, with the second part of an unprecedented treble under their club's belt.
Even before that, though, Owen had played a crucial part in the Reds' season of success. His equally impressive double in the Olympic Stadium in Rome gave Liverpool a 2-0 victory over Italian champions-to-be Roma and paved the way for a run that ended in glory at the Westfalenstadion, where Owen played his part in his side's enthralling 5-4 victory in the final over Alaves.
There was also the small matter of seven goals in his last four league matches of the 2000-01 season, including a hat-trick against Newcastle, that helped Gerard Houllier's men clinch a place in the Champions League and provided another example of the youngster coming good when it matters most.
And his sparkling run of form hasn't seized up as the winter months ensue. With nine goals from nine starts and a couple of strikes in the Champions League helping Liverpool through to the second phase, his star shows no sign of waning.
In the Premiership, European competition and World Cup qualifiers combined, Owen's figures make remarkable reading. The 22-year-old striker has bagged 28 goals since January 1, 2001 in these matches, at an average of one every 106 minutes, while in World Cup qualifiers this increased to an outstanding one in 74 minutes. His successful strikes represent 30% of all efforts at goal - a remarkable ratio to keep up for the better part of 12 months and a real indication of the kind of consistency only world class players can achieve.
This is all the more impressive given that Owen has struggled for fitness at times this year but has still maintained such a high standard of performance despite a troublesome hamstring.
His closest contender for the crown of European Player of the Year was Real Madrid's Raul. The Spaniard was lauded most notably by team-mate Luis Figo, who picked up the World Player of the Year award ahead of England's David Beckham, but on Opta's evidence Owen has held a slight edge over his Spanish counterpart. Raul may have netted 34 goals in his domestic league and European club football in 2001 compared to Owen's 22 in these respective competitions, but having spent nearly twice as much time on pitch as the Liverpool star Raul's goals have come at a rate of one every 137 minutes compared to 115 minutes for Owen.
Moreover, Raul has despatched 24% of his chances beyond opposition goalkeepers in these matches as opposed to Owen's 29%, while hitting the target with 61% of all attempts - impressive, but once more not as good as Owen.
It must be heart-warming for England fans to know that Sven-Goran Eriksson will be taking a man voted Europe's best player in Owen to the Far East for the World Cup, alongside the planet's second-best footballer in David Beckham. If the pair can live up their billings in the summer, there may be more awards in store for them and their colleagues come the end of June.
