LONDON – Former England striker Michael Owen admitted on Wednesday he had fallen down to win penalties when he could have stayed on his feet but said he would never dive to win a penalty for any side.The former Liverpool, Real Madrid and Newcastle United striker, now 32, is attempting to revive his career at Premier League Stoke City after an injury-blighted spell at Manchester United ended in the off-season.During a discussion on diving, Owen gave an unusually honest answer to delegates as part of a three-man panel at the Leaders In Football business convention at the Stamford Bridge home of European champions Chelsea.Sitting alongside Pierluigi Collina, the former World Cup referee who is now Uefa’s chief refereeing officer, Owen said: “It is in our game, it is happening so fast these days that it is virtually impossible to see whether there was contact.“I’d say that 75 per cent of players could stay on their feet for a penalty, and if they get touched and go down it is almost, ‘hey got touched so it’s okay to go down’.“I have been guilty as well, I played at the 1998 World Cup against Argentina and I was running flat out, got a nudge, went down. Could I have stayed up? Yes, probably.”Looking at Collina, he added: “Then four years later you gave me a penalty again against Argentina. Again, I could have stayed on my feet, the defender’s caught me and I did have a decent gash down my shin from it but I could have stayed up.”Alan Shearer converted the penalty that Owen won in 1998 when Argentina beat England on penalties in St Etienne, France. Four years later England beat Argentina 1-0 in Sapporo, Japan when David Beckham scored from the spot.
