Macca goal counts for nothing

Macca was jumping for joy early on but it all went wrong

BBC Sport Online's Pete Lansley in Eindhoven hears from Steve McManaman after England's defeat at the hands of Portugal.

Steve McManaman may have continued his dreamy summer scoring spree on Monday night in Eindhoven but the Real Madrid star said Portugal's dramatic comeback rendered his goal meaningless.

And now the former Liverpool winger faces an anxious wait to see if his twisted knee, which initially saw him stretchered off, rules him out of England's do-or-die showdown with Germany on Saturday.

McManaman, whose only previous international goals came against Luxembourg last September, scored a memorable volley as Real beat Valencia 3-0 in the Champions League last month.

Luis Figo sparked the Portuguese comeback

And he must have thought he was blessed when arriving to convert David Beckham's latest show of world-class crossing to put England two goals clear against the Portuguese.

But the dream turned into a nightmare as Portugal came back to win 3-2 and MacManaman collapsed in agony forcing him to leave the action midway through the second period.

"I was chuffed with my goal when I scored it but it means absolutely nothing now," he said.

Run of the ball

"A lot of things didn't go our way tonight but hopefully we'll get a little run of the ball at some point in the tournament.

I was chuffed with my goal when I scored it but it means absolutely nothing now

Steve McManaman

"They looked a world-class team today and they have to play the other two teams so hopefully they'll take points off those two as well.

"The good thing about it is that it [qualification] is in our own hands. If we work on things this week and win our two remaining games, we'll go through."

Very sore

McManaman's knee came up very sore and, even after ice was applied to it on Monday night, Kevin Keegan said the midfielder was a severe concern for the Germany game.

The 1-1 draw between the other two Group A teams at least gives England the opportunity to help dismiss them from qualification.

"We were very confident coming into this game and the fact we let slip a two-goal lead is very disappointing.

"The first game is always very difficult. Germany will be going flat out to win as well on Saturday. Hopefully Portugal will keep taking points off opposing teams.

"But it's up to us to win our games from now and not rely on other teams."