After only two minutes of the third group game Owen crawled from the pitch after what looked like a very nasty knee injury. An injury that will no doubt re-open the club versus country debate again.

Owen has not played many games since joining Newcastle United from Real Madrid at the beginning of last season. A series of niggling injuries and the broken foot he suffered at Tottenham on New Years Eve have allowed the striker to make just 11 appearances for the magpies.

Should the players be paid for playing for their country? Surely not they earn enough money and should play for the honour of representing their nation in battle against other national teams.

Should that money be spent on insurance to cover their clubs in the event that the worst should happen? Possibly, but how would compensation be paid? Would it be a percentage of the players value? Then how would the minnows like the Ivory Coast afford to play someone as expensive as Didier Drogba. Should the compensation cover the players wages for period they are out injured, even this could cripple the finances of some football associations. Some Clubs could even want compensation for the loss of earnings of from competitions, every position Newcastle drop down the Premiership costs the club £500k.

The issue will rumble on for a while and there is no doubting that the over opinionated omnipotent leader of the sports world governing body Sepp Blatter will have much to say on the subject.