Keegan keen to remain upbeat

Keegan believes England can still qualify

Kevin Keegan believes England can still do well at Euro 2000 - but admits they will probably need to beat both Germany and Romania to progress.

His side started well against Portugal, moving two goals clear early on, but fell away badly to allow their Group A opponents to storm back and claim a 3-2 victory in Eindhoven.

"Obviously it's going to be more difficult now," Keegan conceded with regard to England's chances of qualification.

"But I still feel we've got it in our own hands. We probably have to win both games.

It's still in our own hands... but we probably have to win both games

Kevin Keegan on England's chances

Looking back at the display against Portugal, he continued: "I can certainly think of a fair few things we could have done better.

"Defensively, we didn't work well enough as a unit, especially in midfield when we didn't have the ball.

"However, there were a lot of plus points in there that got overlooked.

"Our finishing was good and our character was good.

Keegan defended his tactics on the night despite criticism that his side got overrun in midfield because he deployed a rigid 4-4-2 formation.

Criticism

"We went 2-0 up and someone said afterwards 'you should have changed it straight away.'

"But if we had lost, people would then have said: 'you had the momentum going, why did you change it?'

"It's often a lose-lose situation as a coach these days. But I have a style of management and that is not going to change.

"It would be going against myself and my beliefs."

He also was at pains to counter suggestions that the spine of the England team showed worrying signs of being past its best.

Keegan as well as the team face intense scrutiny

"I thought Alan Shearer led the line very well and I felt sorry for Paul Ince - he had a bit of a price to pay because of the midfield we put around him to attack," he said.

"I don't think David Seaman could have done anything about any of the goals.

"The first two were very hard to defend against although we could have done better with the third.

"But I still believe that spine is as strong as ever and has the strength to overcome any criticism."

High quality

The England coach was also keen to emphasise the high quality of football that had been played in arguably the most exciting game of the tournament to date.

"A lot of fans went home last night disappointed but it was a great game which could have gone either way," he insisted.

"We both tried to hurt each other by playing football and they won.

"They have three world class players and they grabbed the headlines.

"I didn't think we got the breaks but they played well.

"It is a long time since someone scored three goals against England but you have to give Portugal credit for that."