Owen The "Luque" Of Madrid
Last updated : 03 March 2007 By Footy Mad - Editor
Is it a culture thing? Home sickness? Or is football in the two countries THAT different?
Luque cried off playing for Newcastle United Reserves on Thursday with a "knock picked up on the training ground" ... which was as predictable as "rain on the plain in Spain". And this week we hear Owen saying he knew his career at Real Madrid would be short-lived almost as soon as he arrived.
He joined Real in 2004 and scored 16 goals in the Primera Liga before returning to the Premiership with Newcastle after just one season.
Owen: "I moved out there for all the right reasons. I knew that if I turned down the opportunity I might regret it all my life. Everyone I spoke to agreed.
"In some ways I had to get it out of my system, a bit like owning a boy-racer car and yet, looking back, I knew that after about two months that I was doing one year and one year only. I knew quickly that I wasn't going to take to it.
"You need the trust of your manager but I was scoring goals and still coming off. It sickens you and you think 'I want to go home'.
"I am glad for the experience even if the main thing I learned was that living abroad is not for me."