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Pressure increases on injured Owen

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Owen broke his foot during a league game in December.

LONDON, England -- Newcastle striker Michael Owen has said that he may have just one game to prove his fitness for England's World Cup squad.

The former Liverpool and Real Madrid marksman has had two operations since breaking a foot in December's Premiership game against Tottenham.

Owen may not be fit until Newcastle's last match of the season, against Chelsea on May 7.

England coach Sven Goran Eriksson is due to name his provisional World Cup squad the next day.

Owen said that it would be a miracle if he could fit in more than two games at most.

England play Hungary in a friendly on May 30 and then Jamaica on June 3.

"I am pounding the treadmill with that in mind. I would love to show my face in at least one game, then look forward to next season," Owen said.

"I am confident I can play in the England friendlies against Jamaica and Hungary - as long as I do not have any more setbacks or muscular problems.

"A lot of people can have those when they are coming back from long-term injuries," he added

"You come back and because you are maybe protecting something subconsciously, something else goes."

Owen moved to Newcastle from Real Madrid last August but his club have not had much of a return on their investment."

Embarrassed

"I feel a bit embarrassed, to be honest, as I've only played ten games this season when they paid 16 million pounds ($27.82 million) or whatever it was for me," he said.

"It was no fault of my own, but still something inside me feels a little bit guilty about walking into the treatment room rather than the training pitch.

"I feel I still need to show my face one or two times before end of season. God help me if I hadn't scored more goals.

"The only thing that's made the season bearable is when I've played, I've scored a few goals. It makes it slightly better, but I need to play more than ten games a season to feel like I've given any return."

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