ZINEDINE ZIDANE lit up Hampden Park 16 years ago and Andy Owens fancies trying to emulate him on Friday night.

Zidane met a looping Roberto Carlos centre with a waist-high left-footed volley that thundered past Bayer Leverkusen’s Hans-Jorg Butt to effectively win Real Madrid the 2002 Champions League final.

The surroundings are the same, even if the stakes aren’t quite as high, for Owens as Connah’s Quay Nomads make their way north of the border to face Queen’s Park in the Scottish Challenge Cup quarter-finals.

There were over 50,000 people in attendance for Zidane’s sublime volley, while any Owens headline grabbing goal could be in-front of around just 750 spectators.

Can Owens produce a moment of magic to win it for Nomads?

“Ha!” laughed Owens when matching Zidane’s effort was mentioned, the 29-year-old continuing: “I will give it a go...I’ve not really scored a great goal since I’ve been here.

“I usually get a few decent goals a season, so if the chance comes I will try my best, I’m not one to turn down the chance to shoot.”

When asked how boss Andy Morrison might react to him trying a speculative effort should it fail to find the back of the net, he added: “I might have to hold my breath if the shot misses!”

Regardless of whether he scores or not, Owens, who recently penned a full-time deal with Morrison’s men, is focused on helping Nomads into the last four of the competition.

“You always take one game at a time, but when you are close to the final stages of any competition you start thinking about what might happen,” said Owens.

“There are a lot of good teams left in the competition, however, one of those being Queen’s Park, who have already beaten TNS.

“Queen’s Park will be looking at us thinking that they’ve beaten TNS, who beat us 3-0.

“They will fancy their chances. Hopefully they under-estimate us and we can make it into the semi-finals.”

The chance to run out at Hampden doesn’t come around very often - certainly not for a Welsh Premier League player - and Owens is relishing the opportunity.

“The chance to play at Hampden Park is great...it’s still quite new to me,” said Owens, who explained: “I obviously only arrived in January and the competitions you play in are different.

“I still have to explain to family and friends what the Scottish Challenge Cup is and what teams you play against. I also get asked ‘what standard is it?’ quite a lot as well, and games like this give people an idea.

“But it’s exciting. The chance to have played in the Europa League and against teams like Coleraine and Falkirk is great and the chance to play at Hampden is exciting.

“There is so much history in the place. You only have to read about what’s happened there to get excited about playing there.

“It will be something to talk about when I’m older.”

The remaining quarter-final ties take place tomorrow afternoon with Irish outfit Bohemians entertaining East Fife, Alloa heading to Edinburgh City and Motherwell Under-21s hosting Ross County.