Newcastle have confirmed Michael Owen has ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee after the England striker was ruled out of the rest of the World Cup.
Magpies chairman Freddy Shepherd claimed it was "too early" to say how long Owen will be out of action for after sustaining the "serious injury" during the first minute of England's 2-2 draw against Sweden in Cologne.
Shepherd said: "Michael is flying back from Germany today and sadly his World Cup is over.
"We've been informed by the FA that Michael has suffered a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament, but at this stage it's too early to say how long he will be out for, although it is a serious injury.
"He'll come home and back into our care and will be assessed by our club medical staff at some point in the next couple of days following his return."
The 26-year-old, who missed the second half of last season with a metatarsal injury, flew back to the team hotel in Baden-Baden on Wednesday morning and underwent an MRI scan at the Max Grundig hospital at Buhlertal.
MICHAEL OWEN FACTFILE
1979: Born December 14, Chester.
1991: Breaks Ian Rush's goalscoring record for Deeside Primary Schools in north Wales after he had previously beaten Gary Speed's record as the youngest player to play for the team.
1995: Beats the goalscoring record of Kevin Gallen and Nick Barmby for England Under-15s.
1996: Helps Liverpool win the FA Youth Cup in May. Signs professional terms with Liverpool on 17th birthday after previously joining them as a schoolboy.
1997: May 6 - Scores on his first-team debut against Wimbledon at Selhurst Park.
September 16 - Scores on European debut against Celtic in UEFA Cup.
November 18 - Nets his first senior hat-trick against Grimsby in the Coca-Cola Cup.
December 17 - Scores on his debut for England Under-21s.
1998: February 2 - Named in Glenn Hoddle's senior squad for the first time.
February 11 - Becomes youngest England international of the 20th century when he starts against Chile.
February 14 - Scores his first Premiership hat-trick against Sheffield Wednesday. Finishes season joint-top scorer in the Premiership with 18 league goals.
May 27 - Becomes youngest England goalscorer when he nets the only goal against Morocco in Casablanca.
May 31 - Named in England's World Cup squad of 22.
June 22 - Scores after coming on as substitute against Romania but England lose 2-1.
June 30 - Scores a sensational goal against Argentina before England bow out of France 98 on penalties.
December 13 - Named BBC Sports Personality of the Year, one day ahead of his 19th birthday.
1999: April 14 - Liverpool announce Owen is out for three months because of hamstring and tendon injuries.
2000: June - Named in Kevin Keegan's Euro 2000 squad.
2001: May - Scores twice in the last seven minutes as Liverpool come back to beat Arsenal 2-1 in the FA Cup final at the Millennium Stadium.
Plays, but does not score, as Liverpool complete a cup treble when they beat Alaves 5-4 after extra-time to win the UEFA Cup.
September 1 - A hat-trick helps England to an historic 5-1 win over Germany in the World Cup qualifier in Munich.
September 26 - Signs a new four-year deal with the Anfield club.
December 17 - Named European Footballer of the Year.
2002: April 16 - Named as stand-in England captain for friendly against Paraguay.
June - Scores goals against Denmark and Brazil during England's run to the quarter-finals of the World Cup in Japan.
2003: February 27 - Scores his 20th goal in European competition, equalling Ian Rush's club record in the 2-0 win over Auxerre.
April 26 - Scores his 100th Premiership goal, the second of four in a 6-0 rout of West Brom.
June 11 - Making 50th England appearance, captains the side in the absence of David Beckham and nets twice in 2-1 Euro 2004 qualifying defeat of Slovakia at Riverside Stadium.
September 24 - Breaks Rush's club record, scoring his 21st goal in European competition with a header against Olimpija Ljubljana in the UEFA Cup first round 1-1 draw in Slovenia.
2004: June - Scores one goal for England in Euro 2004 - in the quarter-final defeat to Portugal - but is overshadowed by fellow striker Wayne Rooney who nets four times during the tournament.
August 12 - Sources close to Real reveal the Spanish club have agreed to give Liverpool £8million and Antonio Nunez for the services of Owen.
August 13 - Passes medical with the Spanish giants.
August 18 - Scores for England in 3-0 win against Ukraine.
September 18 - Taken off after 65 minutes of 1-0 defeat to Espanyol and criticised in Spanish media for his poor opening performances for Madrid.
October 9 - Keeps his place in the England team despite calls for him to be dropped for Rooney and Jermain Defoe. Responds by helping England beat Wales then scoring the winner in Azerbaijan four days later.
2005: May 23 - After scoring 16 goals in his debut season in Spain, states his intention to stay with Real Madrid despite reported interest from Newcastle.
May 31 - Goes fourth in all-time England goalscorers' charts with a hat-trick in 3-2 defeat of Colombia in New Jersey.
August 3 - After Real Madrid sign Robinho and Julio Baptista, Owen admits he has had "brief dialogue with three or four Premiership clubs".
August 24 - Owen expresses desire to return to Liverpool if he cannot start the season in Real Madrid first team. If the transfer cannot be finalised in time he agrees to go to Newcastle on one-year loan.
August 30 - Owen signs four-year deal with Newcastle, sealing £17million permanent transfer.
September 18 - Opens scoring in second game - a 3-0 win at Blackburn - and follows up in the next game with winner against Manchester City at St James' Park.
October 12 - Takes England goal tally to 33 with first goal of the World Cup qualifier against Poland - equalling Gary Lineker's competitive record of 22 for England.
November 12 - Scores twice in dying minutes as England come from behind to beat Argentina 3-2 in a friendly in Geneva.
December 17 - Scores first hat-trick for Newcastle in 4-2 win at West Ham.
December 31 - Breaks metatarsal bone in defeat at Tottenham and is ruled out for 'several months'.
2006: January 2 - Owen says he expects to be fit for "at least a month of the Premiership season", which ends on May 7.
March 24 - Newcastle announce Owen requires surgery to tighten the screw inserted into his foot during the initial operation.
April - Makes Premiership return as a substitute against Birmingham but complains of pain afterwards and withdraws from final game of the season.
May - Named in England World Cup squad and features in B international against Belarus and friendly against Hungary.
June - Scores in friendly against Jamaica but is withdrawn early in the second half in both opening matches against Paraguay and Trinidad and Tobago after ineffective performances.
June 20 - Injures knee in first minute of group game against Sweden in Cologne and is immediately replaced. Scan reveals rupture of anterior cruciate ligament and FA confirm his World Cup is over.
