KEVIN KEEGANS ENGLAND CAREER

*captain - ¹goals scored

531: v Poland, Wembley, 27.3.99 England won 3-1
Seaman      G.Neville      Le Saux      Sherwood      Keown    Campbell      Beckham (P.Neville)      Scholes3 (Redknapp)      Shearer*      Cole      McManaman (Parlour)

'The peoples choice' Kevin Keegan began his run of four games in charge in front of a packed Wembley stadium in bright spring sunshine and his players did not let him down. Manchester United's Paul Scholes stole the show with a brilliant hat-trick that put England's European Championship back on track.

532: v Hungary, Budapest, 28.4.99 England drew 1-1
Seaman      Brown (Gray 74)      P.Neville      Batty      Ferdinand (Carragher 62)      Keown      Butt     Sherwood      Shearer*1      Phillips (Heskey 83)      McManaman (Redknapp 85)

A pretty meaningless friendly that angered some managers in the Premiership, they were not prepared to risk their top players picking up injuries. Kevin Keegan picked and played a lot of new players who will be better for the experience. Alan Shearer scored again for England, his 23rd for his country. The game was pretty drab and England could not hold on for the win.

A lot was made of Kevin Keegans appointment as the full time England manager but he found out quickly that it will not be as easy a job as he may have thought. England were again poor against the group 5 leaders and we have all become used to these crap performances in end of season games. Paul Scholes becoming the first England player to be sent-off on English soil did not help matters as England struggled to come to terms with a very talented Swedish team.

Crap is one word that would describe this England performance as they failed to get the win they needed on a very dodgy looking pitch in Sofia. Shearer silenced his critics with his 24th internationl goal but Bulgaria fought back and had the better chances as both teams went for the three points.

England strolled to a easy win against Group 5 wipping boys Luxembourg on a very warm afternoon at Wembley. Skipper Alan Shearer netted a hat-trick and Steve McManaman got two, substitute Michael Owen added the sixth on 90 minutes.

England needing a win to make sure of qualification for Euro 2000 turned in another abject performance against a very negative Polish side in Warsaw. On a high after the 6-0 win over Luxembourg four days previous England failed to break down the Polish defence and qualification wasa out of their hands.

A good warm-up victory before England's precipitation in the Euro 2000 play-offs at Sunderlands stadium of light. Skipper Alan Shearer continued his good recent form and gave England an early lead before Belgium drew level. Liverpools Jamie Redknapp scored the winner with a stunning shot from outside the box late on. Leicester Citys Steve Guppy and West Hams Frank Lampard made their England debuts.

All the hype building up to 'the battle of Britain' finally came to an end as England faced Scotland in the first leg of the Euro 2000 play-off at a packed Hampden Park. Two goals from Paul Scholes gave England a comfortable advantage going into the second leg and it was a very professorial if unspectacular performance from Kevin Keegans side.

England on a high after the win at Hampden four days earlier were brought crashing back down to earth as Scotland almost pulled of a miraculous escape in this 2nd leg of the Euro 2000 play-off at Wembley. Don Hutchinson gave his country the lead just before half-time and Scotland were always dangerous as England put in the most appaling performance seen at Wembley in many years.

England's first international of the new century was a welcome return to form after the disasterous performance against Scotland. Kevin Keegan's side took the game to the talented Argentines and were unlucky not to win on the night. Leicester's Emile Heskey made a impressive full debut up front.

Englands warm up games for Euro 2000 started against the number one side in the world at Wembley, and for 45 minutes at least England matched Brazil in all areas of the pitch. Michael Owen gave them a deserved lead on 39 minutes but Brazil equalized just before half-time. England struggled in the second half as Brazil upped the pace. A good work out by Kevin Keegans side.

England's last game at the old Wembley stadium as long as the demolition goes ahead on time turned out to be a morale boosting win against a classy Ukraine side. Robbie Fowler scored the first with a simple tap-in after a Shearer header was saved and Tony Adams added the second with his first international goal in 11 years.

Why England play these meaningless pre tournament friendlies is often asked, well this was to do about winning votes for the World Cup 2006 campaign. England stuttered to a 2-1 win against an ordinary Malta team who played well above themselves. Pointless really, but Emile Heskey did score his first England goal, while Martin Keown scored his first international goal for eight years.

England's EURO 2000 kicked of with a crushing blow after Portugal fought back from 2-0 down to win 3-2. England made a dream start to the game and were 2 up after 18 minutes through goals from Scholes and McManaman, but then it all went wrong as they failed to sit back on the lead and paid the penalty. Losing to a talented side like Portugal was not so bad but the way they crumbled so badly must be a worry.

34 years waiting for a competitive win over Germany finally came to an end on a warm summer evening in Charleroi. An Alan Shearer header on 53 minutes was enough to put Kevin Keegans troops back on track in Euro 2000. Not a classic game by any means as both sides struggled to take control of the game. But nobody cared about that, the jinx was finally broken.

England needing a draw to qualify for a quarter-final date with Italy produced a shambles of a performance that must have had Kevin Keegan pulling his hair our. Despite playing pathetically bad they managed to go in at half-time 2-1 up after goals from Shearer and Owen. But then it all wen wrong, Romania scored two minutes after the break and scored the winner from the penalty spot 2 minutes from the end to send England crashing out after another disappointing European Championships. A shame for Alan Shearer who scored his 30th and last England goal who now retires from International football, often criticised, he was a superb servant for England and his worth will only really be realised when England try and find a replacement who averages almost a goal every two games at the highest level.

547: v France, Paris, 03.09.00, England drew 1-1
Seaman      Campbell      Barry      Wise      Adams* (Southgate)      Keown      Beckham      Scholes (Owen1)      Cole      Barmby (McManaman)      Anderton (Dyer 69)

Trying to get your form and confidence back after the pathetic displays during EURO 2000 you do not really want to be playing against the World and European champions in their own back yard. But England discovered they could play football after all and even started to put two passes together again. Keegan did not do the hatchet job on his squad that a lot of people expected and the same old faces lined up against the French with the main exception of the retired Alan Shearer. Andy Cole took over his spot, playing alone up front in an adventurous formation chosen by Keegan. Gareth Barry was making his full debut and did not disappoint. While the French were not giving their all they still caused England problems but England produced a much better display and were unlucky not to be leading before Petit put France ahead in the 64th minute. Keegan brought on Owen on 79 minutes and the man for the big occasion produced the goods again 7 minutes later to pull the teams level. Much, much better from England.

548: v Germany, Wembley, 07.10.00, England lost 1-0
Seaman       Neville, G (Dyer)       Le Saux (Barry)       Southgate       Adams*  Keown       Beckham (Parlour)       Scholes       Cole      Owen       Barmby

Nobody but Kevin Keegan knew beforehand that this would be his final game in charge, and what a shame his team put in a pathetic performance going down once again to the Germans. An early goal from Hamann whose quick free-kick caught Seaman by surprise was enough to put Germany in control of Group 9 of the World Cup qualifiers. England had no answer and Keegan must have been pulling his hair out as his side of multi millionaires did their best impression of a local pub team.