Owen: Beyond my dreams

Owen's treble and goals from Liverpool team-mates Steven Gerrard and Emile Heskey demolished¹ the Germans in their own backyard to boost² England's chances of automatic³ qualification for the 2002 Finals.

He said: 'You can dream about scoring a hat-trick but you don't think it is going to come true. It was unbelievable to come here. No-one would have predicted this scoreline but some of us might have predicted the victory.'

He added on BBC television: 'We are a good team. It's not about me. It is good on a personal note to score a hat-trick but had David Seaman⁴ not made a world class save at 1-1 it might have been a different story.'

'Gerrard got a great goal, too. Everyone will get 10 out of 10 in the papers for this performance.'

Captain David Beckham, who had been a doubt for the match all week because of a groin injury, paid tribute⁵ to the team's character for coming back after Carsten Jancker had opened the scoring for Germany.

'We knew it was going to be hard to start off which it proved to be when we went 1-0 down,' said the Manchester United midfielder.

'It shows the character of the team. We knew we would have to work hard and we did that. Michael started us rolling and Steve scored with a great strike. We knew in the second half we could not come out and start like we did in the first half, and we went on from there.'

As the goals flew in, the skipper admitted he 'couldn't really believe they were going in like they were'.

He added: 'It was about the whole team tonight. I was lucky enough to be out there with those players.'

England coach Sven Goran Eriksson said: 'It was a very good evening. I always said and always believed we could beat Germany but I could not believe 5-1. It was too much the difference between the teams was maybe not so big.'

'We played very well, we played some beautiful balls and showed we have a very good spirit when we went one down.'

'We did not play well for the first five or 10 minutes but after that we got better and better.'

But Eriksson sounded a note of caution⁶ ahead of the qualifier against Albania at St James' Park on Wednesday.

'We have a difficult and dangerous game on Wednesday. This was a great result but after such a victory it would be crazy to lose things.'

Germany coach Rudi Voeller was unable to attend the post-match press conference after it emerged⁷ that his father had suffered a heart attack as he watched the game at the Olympic Stadium.

Deputy⁸ coach Michael Skibbe attended instead of Voeller and said: 'It was very sad what happened to Rudi's father.'

Erikkson also expressed his sympathy, saying: 'Some things are more important than football.'

Voeller's father, Kurt, was said to be in a stable condition.

1 demolished
v.摧毁( demolish的过去式和过去分词 )；推翻；拆毁（尤指大建筑物）；吃光
参考例句：
The factory is due to be demolished next year. 这个工厂定于明年拆除。 They have been fighting a rearguard action for two years to stop their house being demolished. 两年来 ，为了不让拆除他们的房子 ，他们一直在进行最后的努力 。

2 boost
n.鼓励，激励 ，提高；v.鼓励，使增强信心
参考例句：
This will be a great boost to the economy.这对于经济发展将是一个巨大的促进 。 These changes will help to boost share prices.这些变化将有助于提高股票价格。

3 automatic
adj.自动的；不经思考的 ，习惯性的；当然的
参考例句：
Breathing is an automatic function of the body.呼吸是身体的一种无意识的功能 。 Modern trains have automatic doors.现代火车装有自动门。

4 seaman
n.海员，水手 ，水兵
参考例句：
That young man is a experienced seaman.那个年轻人是一个经验丰富的水手 。 The Greek seaman went to the hospital five times.这位希腊海员到该医院去过五次。

5 tribute
n.颂词 ，称赞，(表示敬意的)礼物；贡品
参考例句：
She accepted their tribute graciously.她慈祥地接受了他们的致意 。 Many conquered nations had to pay tribute to the rulers of ancient Rome.许多被征服的国家必须向古罗马的统治者朝贡 。

6 caution
n.小心 ，谨慎 ，警告；vt.告诫，警告
参考例句：
You should exercise extreme caution when driving in fog.在雾中开车要极为小心。 There is no need for such caution.不必如此小心谨慎 。

7 emerged
vi. 浮现, (由某种状态)脱出, (事实)显现出来
参考例句：
They emerged from the church into the bright daylight. 他们走出教堂来到明亮的日光下 。 The swimmer emerged from the lake. 游泳者从湖水中浮出来。

8 deputy
n.代理人 ，代表 ，副职；adj.代理的，副的
参考例句：
John will act as a deputy for me during my absence.我离开期间 ，约翰将代理我的职务 。 She is the deputy headmistress of the school.她是那所学校的代理校长 。