Owen admits to diving for England

The 32-year-old Stoke striker has admitted to going to ground easily in the past and believes that players who win penalties could often have stayed on their feet.

The 32-year-old Stoke striker Michael Owen has admitted to going to ground easily in the past and believes that players who win penalties could often have stayed on their feet

Stoke striker Michael Owen has confessed to diving in order to win a penalty whilst playing for England.

Owen’s club manager Tony Pulis last week called for players who dive to be given retrospective bans, following Luis Suarez’s attempt to gain a spot-kick during Liverpool’s recent clash with the Potters.

However, the 32-year-old, who last represented the Three Lions in 2008, has revealed he has simulated in the past.

“I’m totally against diving but I’d say that 75 per cent of people could stay on their feet for a penalty,” Owen wrote on Twitter.

“I have been guilty as well, at the 1998 World Cup I was running flat out, got a nudge, went down. Could I have stayed up? Yes probably.”