England striker Michael Owen said that he feels guilty for the injury sustained in the first few minutes of the Sweden v England match, especially to Newcastle fans and its chairman, who said that the compensation package from The FA is not enough.

In an article that he wrote for the Times, Owen said that he "feels guilty" for Newcastle and bad for missing the rest of the World Cup Finals in Germany. Michael Owen confirmed that he won't be able to play football again in 2006, pledging to make a comeback as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, Newcastle United's chairman, Freddy Shepherd, said that the compensation offered by The FA is leaving Newcastle to "pick up the pieces" from Michael Owen's injury. The Club paid £17 million to sign the player for Real Madrid last August, but injury-hit Michael Owen has only played in 11 matches so far for Newcastle.

The Guardian is reporting that the FA's insurance company will pay Owen's wages until he returns to fitness which are approximately £460,000 per month, which means that for the rest of 2006 Newcastle will get back just over £3 million.

Freddy Shepherd is clearly not happy with the news and the same applies to Newcastle United fans. With the first Intertoto match being approximately 3 weeks time from now, the Club will need to spend money on bringing a quality striker, especially after Alan Shearer's retirement.

Newcastle may consider launching a legal action against FIFA, the governing body of World Football, following the outcome of a case sent to the European Court involving a similar lawsuit.

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