Keegan looks to lift his men
OVERVIEW
England enjoyed a rollercoaster ride to the Euro 2000 finals.
They snatched a place in Belgium and Holland with a play-off success against old enemies Scotland.
But en route to that victory were notable wins and some disastrous displays, topped off by the sacking of Glenn Hoddle.
He left the post after three qualifying matches, following his alleged newspaper comments about the disabled.
Up to that point a disastrous defeat in Stockholm was followed by a dull draw at home to Bulgaria.
The only success came with a predictable 3-0 success in Luxembourg.
Kevin Keegan replaced Hoddle amid much national fervour and expectation.
The new England coach needed to start with a win over the Poles at Wembley.
And a Paul Scholes hat-trick earned them a vital 3-1 success.
Scholes went quickly from hero to villain in the next match however, a disappointing home stale-mate with the Swedes.
Four days later another draw, this time in Bulgaria, left England in big trouble.
They beat Luxembourg again at Wembley, but the failure to see off Poland in Warsaw took destiny out of their own hands.
Keegan prayed for Sweden to beat the Poles to keep England alive, and they did just that.
Europe gasped when Scotland came out of the hat to meet England in the play-offs.
Hampden and a huge confrontation awaited, but two Scholes goals gave England a fantastic 2-0 first-leg victory.
But four days later they just scraped into the finals, losing to a solitary Don Hutchison goal in the second leg at Wembley.
England had gone from world-beaters to mugs in four days, but by the time the finals come round that will probably be forgotten.
Keegan undoubtedly has some quality players at his disposal - David Beckham, Michael Owen, Sol Campbell and Alan Shearer to name just four.
But their under-achievement at international level shows that the strength of the Premiership is more down to foreign imports than British best.
Keegan has listened to all the criticism, and will face much more between now and the finals.
Winning the tournament is probably out of England's reach, but a respectable showing would answer the knockers.