Owen has successful cruciate operation

LONDON, Sep 7 (Reuters) England striker Michael Owen has had a second knee operation in the US and will start an intensive rehabilitation programme immediately, his club Newcastle United said today.

Owen suffered a cruciate ligament injury during England's World Cup group match against Sweden in June and will be out of action for several months.

Newcastle coach Glenn Roeder said the operation went ''extremely well''.

The operation, to repair the cruciate ligament, followed surgery in July to fix damaged cartilage.

''As far as Michael is concerned, he can now start to focus on playing again. It's going to be a long haul but he can start to focus on that,'' Roeder was quoted as saying on the club's Web site.

Reuters AY KP2121