Ronaldo, Beckham, Zidane, Gerrard: Michael Owen's stunning dream XI | OneFootball

Michael Owen was a fantastic footballer in his pomp.

While the Englishman’s punditry in the present day is often questionable, it must not be forgotten just how good of a player he was.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Owen was one of the most feared strikers in world football.

As a youngster at Liverpool, he had defenders quivering in fear with his pace and clinical finishing.

Owen scored 157 goals in 296 games for the Reds and even scooped the coveted Ballon d’Or award in 2001 while on the team’s payroll.

The 42-year-old also thrived on the international stage, bagging 40 goals in 89 appearances for England – including a memorable hat-trick against Germany in a World Cup qualifier.

Yeah, Owen’s playing career was pretty darn good, especially when you remember he enjoyed a successful year at Real Madrid too.

When you have the honour of representing Los Blancos, England, Liverpool and Manchester United, you’re going to be able to name a stellar XI made up of former teammates.

And that’s exactly what Owen did back in 2017.

He was asked to name the best XI of footballers he’s played alongside during a feed show with Steve Bower.

Owen also named the greatest XI of players he played against.

Subs: Nemanja Vidic, Luis Figo, Paul Gascoigne and John Barnes.

When Figo and ‘Gazza’ are only good enough for a place on the bench, you know the XI is special, very special.

Best XI he’s played against: Peter Schmeichel, Cafu, Marcel Desailly, Jaap Stam, Paolo Maldini, Cristiano Ronaldo, Patrick Vieira, Frank Lampard, Ryan Giggs, Lionel Messi and Thierry Henry.

Subs: Roy Keane, Gianluigi Buffon, Raul, Rivaldo and Francesco Totti.

If it was possible to have a match between those two teams with all the players involved in their primes, it would be sporting entertainment of the highest order.

It’s hard to decide which XI is the superior of the two.

The fact both Messi and Ronaldo, arguably the two greatest footballers in history, feature in the latter suggests it probably has the slight edge.

But a midfield of Scholes, Gerrard and Zidane behind a Rooney and ‘El Fenomeno’ strike force?!

Yeah, that’s outrageous, so we’re going to call it a score draw.

La Liga quiz: Can you name these 30 players from the 2000s?