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Kev my man of the match

From the archive, first published Monday 19th Jun 2000.

What a night! There were heroes throughout the side as England finally got the better of Germany to set the nation dancing in the streets.

Such was the character and strength of the display that it is almost impossible to single anyone out in a terrific team display. But if I had to pick a man of the match it would be Kevin Keegan.

After all the stick he took following the Portugal game, he got this one spot on and has probably surprised and confounded a lot of his critics. And the same can be said for Alan Shearer. Cometh the hour, cometh the man! Having brought both to Southampton, it gave me an awful lot of personal pleasure to see them triumph - quite apart from the joy of beating Germany!

I see Kevin had a bit of a dig at the press and blamed them for Alan's decision to retire from international football after this tournament.

When he made the announcement I assumed it was because he could not take the physical stuff much longer or his legs were starting to go.

But on the evidence of Saturday night I wonder if Kevin has a point. Alan can still do it but at times he must wonder why he should bother if he is only going to be criticised. It would be a pity if that is the case.

I was delighted to see him prove people wrong again. He got a terrific goal but also worked tremendously hard. He did even more than I thought he was capable of as he took the weight off the team up front by holding up the ball and inviting tackles which hurt.

I was pleased for Kevin too. He was criticised for being tactically naive in his formation and using the wrong substitutes against Portugal. But he stuck with it and played a formation which suited the players and he held his nerve.

A lot of people thought he might crack and ten years ago he might have done. But he has matured in the job and now thinks things out.

He realises the press are a major part of the job and by doing that he has annoyed some people who were probably sharpening their pencils before Saturday's game and looking for a flaw.

I recognise that criticism which is beginning to emerge as a pattern with england managers because the expectancy level is so high. But Kevin got it right on the night. His substitutions were spot on. Steven Gerrard impressed me when he came into that atmosphere. He helped the team look like the Liverpool side of old across the middle where they always had a spare man.

Kevin did what I suggested in my Echo column after the Portugal game and put Paul Scholes up front until he got a knock. That gave them more strength in the middle defensively when Germany had the ball and yet he still got forward when we attacked.

David Beckham set up the goal with another excellent cross but he has still got this little quirk in his temperament. It was a bit schoolboyish to react the way he did when he picked up that booking. The challenge would not have hurt anyone but it was petulant because he thought he should have had a free-kick.

Lawrie McMenemy was talking to Graham Hiley.

Converted for the new archive on 25 January 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.

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