Owen is on revenge mission

Michael Owen has set his sights on a revenge mission against Argentina on Friday.

Owen wants to wipe out the memory of England's defeat on penalties at France 98, in which he scored the wonder goal that catapulted him to international stardom.

"Certain things like that rest in the memory," said Owen. "It would be nice to beat them and get our own back."

England's draw with Sweden on Sunday has left them needing a win against Argentina in Sapporo on Friday.

"We don't want to get beat again," added the Liverpool hitman. "We can beat Argentina. On any day we can beat any team in the world."

But Owen will have one eye on Sweden's clash with Nigeria in Kobe: "If a right result goes for us there (against Argentina) a draw wouldn't be such a bad result."

"We would have to beat Nigeria to go through anyway."

Following his goal against Argentina four years ago Owen would settle for just getting on the scoresheet this time.

"It will be a big surprise if I could score a goal like that again," admitted Owen. "I'd be more than happy to score any old tap-in."

Owen also backed team-mate Emile Heskey to shine on Friday, saying: "On his day he's sometimes unplayable. We're going to have a few players they are going to have to be careful of."

Owen is aware of the disappointment following the draw with Sweden but did not allow expectations to weigh him down.

He said: "I'm sure there was a lot of negative stuff back home. If we play well everyone will think we can win the World Cup.

"I think Argentina will bring the best out of us. They do play a different style of football to us, there's a lot more shirt pulling and grabbing, especially on set-pieces. It might be a good thing that we are so far away.

"We can concentrate on the football side. We will just see them as an opponent we have to try to beat."