Out-of-favour England striker Michael Owen wound back the clock with a superb treble to lead Manchester United to a 3-1 win over VfL Wolfsburg last night.
Owen, who turns 30 next week, has been fighting to regain his place in Fabio Capello's side and his virtuoso performance will improve his chances of a recall ahead of next year's World Cup finals in South Africa.
"I think a lot of people probably think I'm 35 already, but I've been saying lately 'I'm still in my 20s'," the former Liverpool and Real Madrid player told Sky Sports.
"I've scored a few hat-tricks in my time but it's always nice to score them."
The treble was Owen's first since moving to United from Newcastle United in July, his last coming for Newcastle in 2005.
Yet the most memorable came in Munich, at the beginning of Sven-Goran Eriksson's reign as England manager.
In Sept. 2001, Owen scored a scintillating treble to down Germany 5-1 in Munich, a country he clearly enjoys playing in.
Since his international debut in 1998, Owen has gone on to play 89 times for his country, scoring 40 goals.
Recently, however, due mainly to injury and being out of favour with current manager Fabio Capello, Owen hasn't played for his country since March 2008.
His latest exploits are bound to add weight to the claim that he should travel to South Africa next year.
The striker himself said in September he was enjoying a new lease of life after his Old Trafford move, also making light of his injury woes by saying: "I am 100 percent the same player I was in Munich (2001)."
Chelsea held 2-2 by APOEL Nicosia
Chelsea were surprisingly held 2-2 by APOEL Nicosia after conceding a late equaliser but still went unbeaten into the last 16 of the Champions League.
Needing an unlikely win to have any chance of a Europa League berth, the Cypriots stunned Stamford Bridge with a sixth minute goal from Marcin Zewlakow.
The Group D leaders, who had previously conceded only two goals in five games, replied in the 19th when Michael Essien lashed in a swerving shot from 25 metres.
The Ghanaian hobbled off four minutes later with a leg injury that manager Carlo Ancelotti said would likely rule him out of Saturday's home Premier League match against Everton.
There was no stopping Chelsea however, who went 2-1 up through Didier Drogba in the 26th while temporarily down to 10 men before Frank Lampard came on as a substitute in a dominant first half.
Chelsea, already assured of top spot in the group, eased off in the second half and a glaring defensive error allowed APOEL to come back into the game with an 87th minute goal from substitute Nenad Mirosavljevic.
"The second half was not good, we have to do better," a scowling Ancellotti told Sky Sports television. "More concentration, more pressure, more intensity."
Drogba agreed: "We were not concentrating and we thought that 2-1 was going to be a good result but APOEL had to give everything if they wanted to believe," he said.
"I think we have to go into the changing room and try to collect what went wrong...this game was very frustrating because we had a lot of chances but I think we have to give more, play together and defend together," he added.
Chelsea, who had a goal disallowed in each half, gave French teenager Gael Kakuta his first start with Ancelotti hailing him as one of the best players on the pitch.