Some believe a few careless, covertly recorded, whispers from Lord Triesman could jeopardise this vision. "Clearly that was a step back," says Owen. "But you have your ups and downs in everything. We've still got time to push on and win."
England's bid also boasts David Beckham's victory salvaging potential and Owen believes his erstwhile England team-mate can eclipse another David's idiocy: "He's done fantastic work. If we do happen to win 2018 we might need to give David Beckham a pat on the back."
The same is true at Old Trafford, where Ferguson rode to Owen's rescue in the aftermath of an unhappy, injury-dogged stint at Newcastle.
"Playing for Sir Alex is almost like winning a trophy," he says. "You're always on your toes, always looking to impress, the manager's got that aura. The great thing about United is the standard is so high. At other places you can almost feel your performance dipping but being among such high quality your standards can only rise. If they don't you won't survive. In every training session you're always stretching yourself to be as good as everyone else."
United were not quite good enough to seize the biggest European and domestic prizes this season but might it have been different had Owen stayed fit? "I'd love to have been around for the run-in," he says. "Whether I'd have made any difference we'll never know."
Happily, regret did not dominate his inaugural Old Trafford campaign. "Scoring a hat-trick in the Champions League at Wolfsburg was a highlight," he says. "Scoring the winner against Manchester City was fantastic, scoring in the League Cup final was great. I was fit and available for 33 games so, no, I don't feel cursed."
Michael Owen is getting behind England 2018 by supporting the online video campaign "I'm In" created by Umbro, who are an official partner for the bid. The campaign will see celebrities and members of the public voice create 18-second videos telling the world why they backing the bid. To see the videos or post your own visit umbro.com


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