Hargreaves voted England's finest in Germany
Owen Hargreaves, the Bayern Munich player, has been voted England’s best player at the World Cup in Germany.
Hargreaves had come in for criticism by the England fans before the tournament for several insipid displays but Sven-Göran Eriksson, the coach, always stood by him. He then produced many outstanding performances during last month's showpiece as England struggled to reach the quarter-finals.
A Football Association poll saw Hargreaves receives more than 35,000 votes, just under a quarter of those who voted, beating Rio Ferdinand, Joe Cole, David Beckham and John Terry.
Hargreaves, a Champions League-winner with Bayern, said: “Any time you can have the public’s support is great. Obviously before the World Cup I got a taste of the other side of it but it’s far better to be on the positive side of it.
“I saw some English people when I was on holiday in Dubai and it was great. They came up to me and thanked me for working so hard.
“They just said thank you which is the best thing you can really say to someone.”
