By Phil McNulty Chief football writer

Injured Owen left at home

Michael Owen's shin may not have gripped the nation in the manner of David Beckham's metatarsal - but the Liverpool striker's injury is arguably a matter of even greater importance to Sven-Goran Eriksson.

England treat every Beckham injury "scare" as if the country's footballing fabric is about to disintegrate.

And while an England team without their talismanic captain is a disturbing prospect, the reality of Owen being absent for the Euro 2004 qualifier in Turkey is devastating.

Beckham may be England's most glamorous football figure - but Owen is its most important.

And the cries of anguish around Anfield when Owen collapsed in agony against Arsenal on Saturday may only have been drowned out by the sighs of relief from Istanbul.

Those sounds would have been echoed on Thursday when Owen was finally ruled out of the vital Group Seven clash.

Owen is more vital to England than Beckham and always has been. The record of 24 goals in 53 games proves it.

The Liverpool striker's England career is littered with goals of crucial importance.

Owen is England's number one striker

True, Beckham may have scored the penalty that beat Argentina in the World Cup after stamping England's passport to Japan with his free-kick against Greece, but Owen is Eriksson's main man.

Owen is the man to unlock every defence, whether it is by picking the lock or blowing the doors off.

He is a striker who scares world-class defenders, a man whose name on the team-sheet causes anxiety in opposition dressing rooms, and his absence in Turkey is a shattering blow to Eriksson.

Time and again Owen has got goals that matter - and his form this season for Liverpool has been magnificent.

Hours in the gym have produced a more powerful and super-charged figure no longer blighted by hamstring problems that dogged his career.

So it was ironic in the extreme that an innocuous piece of action could cause such damage to England's hopes of appearing in Portugal next summer.

England have no natural goalscoring replacement for Owen, for all the precocious brilliance of Everton's Wayne Rooney.

Owen's importance to England is sometimes taken for granted with the hype that surrounds Beckham's every move.

But Eriksson would never have chosen to find out what life is like without Owen - and certainly not in the most crucial game of their qualifying campaign in the Istanbul hot-house.