England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson heaped praise on Michael Owen after the striker scored all three goals in a 3-2 friendly victory over Colombia on Tuesday.

"I've known for a long time that Michael Owen is one of the best strikers in the world and he showed it again tonight," the Swede said.

"He scored three fantastic goals but that is nothing new because he has been doing that for I don't know how long."

The Real Madrid striker took his international goal tally to 32 with the second hat-trick for his country as an understrength England ended their two-match tour of the US with a 100 per cent record.

"It showed again how important he is for the team. He has scored 32 goals for England and he is only 25, so there should be a lot more to come."

Tuesday's victory followed a 2-1 win over the US in Chicago on Saturday, completing a successful mini-tour that was widely criticised in the English media as a meaningless distraction after the end of a long domestic season.

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