"A hat-trick in Germany for England and a hat-trick in Germany for Manchester United," sagely observed Martin Tyler last night, conveniently forgetting that eight turbulent years have passed since Michael Owen convinced us that Sven-Goran Eriksson's Midas touch stretched further than his bedroom.
Unfortunately, that night in Munich, glorious as it was, turned out to be the peak for Eriksson, and until now for Owen, too.
Injuries, poor career choices and more injuries have seen Owen's star fade ever since he performed the celebratory forward roll (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3HCHS5cdP4) which made Robbie Keane look like Nadia Kominech.
A Carling Cup final victory over Manchester United, in which he scored the clincher, was the highlight of his final few years on Merseyside, and though he was unlucky to be shoved down the pecking order at Real Madrid, where his goals per game ratio was more than respectable, it was inevitable that a player so similar in style, and with the same obsession for scoring goals, would never dislodge Raul as the darling of the Bernabeu.
Then, with virtually the entire Premier League falling over themselves to bring him back from Spain, he committed footballing suicide by choosing Newcastle over, Liverpool, Everton, Spurs and Arsenal.
He cut a disconsolate figure on Tyneside to the extent that he reminded me of football's own Brian Wilson. The creative genius behind the Beach Boys in the early 1960s knew nothing but hit after hit, before he decided to stop touring in 1964 and went a big gaga.
While Owen didn't quit football, so sporadic and infrequent were his appearances in a black and white shirt, he might as well have done. And though he didn't have a breakdown, you wouldn't have blamed him for having one as St James' Park went into meltdown.
It took Wilson until 2004 and the release of Smile, a record he began working on 38 years previously, to emerge from the doldrums, prove his genius was still intact and gain the true acclaim his talent deserves.
Was last night in Wolfsburg Michael Owen's 'Smile'?
His summer move to Manchester United was supposed to catapult him back into the England squad, but he's had trouble thus far in forcing his way past Danny Welbeck and Fredericho Macheda as the immediate back-up to Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov.
Though he scored the winner in the Manchester derby, his only other goalscoring contributions prior to last night came in a Carling Cup tie at Barnsley, a 5-1 romp at Wigan and the 3-3 draw at home to CSKA Moscow last month.
It's hardly the sort of from to have Fabio Capello radically revising his plans for South Africa, and until he can produce his predatory performance against the German champions on a regular basis, last night's heroics will only represent a flashback to the player he once was, instead of a reminder of the player he still could be.
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