England descend to new low

According to Tony Adams, Kevin Keegan has a lucky face. Not this morning he doesn't. Keegan should have a face so red he would be embarrassed to take it out in public. Last night Keegan saw his England team out-passed, outclassed, out-thought and outfought, and as result England are out of Euro 2000. It was a performance incompetent even by the standards set against Portugal and Germany, Keegan's incoherent collection again losing a lead, this time one even less deserved than against Portugal.

Completely outplayed by a Romania team of considerably greater credibility and authority, England somehow went into the interval ahead. A dubious 40th minute penalty, the kind Liverpool used to get at the Kop End, was converted by Alan Shearer to equalise Cristian Chivu's 22nd minute opener. Five minutes after Shearer's last international goal Michael Owen gave England an advantage they warranted in no way.

In front, incredibly, all England needed was a draw. England have hit big hurdles before, frequently in epic fashion, but this England cannot even ride its luck. Dorinel Munteanu made it 2-2 three minutes after half-time and Romania grabbed the winner they deserved with only two minutes left. It was another penalty and a substitute called Ioan Ganea drove it in. Romania go on to play Italy in the quarter-final in Brussels on Saturday, by which time they will have Gheorghe Hagi back from suspension.

As for England, they will go home to disdain and Keegan will face many queries about his suitability for international management. To put this in perspective, England were so bad they were booed by their jingoistic hoolifans last night. It does not get much worse than that.

And there were no excuses, even Keegan used the phrase. The man who shaped and organised the side gave a critical analysis of its inadequacies that will have been heard in front rooms from Devon to Northumberland.

"The clock might have said three minutes left but this was no hard luck story," Keegan said. "We talked for three days about passing the ball but we didn't do it. I have no qualms about the result."

The assessment was typically forthright, typically Keegan. The question in many minds, though, was why Keegan has been unable to translate his obvious sound diagnosis into a workable remedy. England last night did nothing they did not do against Portugal or Germany.

For the first time Keegan gave a glimpse of an answer to that. "If you ask players who play in the Premiership to do certain jobs, you expect them to do it," he said. Owen, Dennis Wise and Paul Scholes were all taken off. All were poor. "We have to ask if we can pass the ball better and control a game," Keegan continued. "The answer in this tournament, sadly, is `No'. We have spent three matches chasing a football."

After talking sense, Keegan then said: "There was plenty of determination. If it was only about endeavour and honesty then we would have won the tournament." The only flaw in that argument is that there are children who have never played the game who could tell you that international football is about more. England are neither sophisticated nor cute.

But at least Keegan had not searched for dubious explanations. Yes, David Seaman was injured warming up, but that could be described as a mixed blessing. In came Nigel Martyn, and after all of two minutes and 24 seconds he was flying at full stretch. Adrian Mutu, the youngster with the burden of a Hagi comparison, gave an immediate indication of his talents with some fine control and a purposeful run. Mutu went past Scholes easily and went to ground when Martin Keown intervened on his team-mate's behalf.

A free-kick on the edge of the England area was the result. Adrian Ilie took it and Martyn was full stretch to push the ball to safety. It was a good save, though had it gone in it would have been a bad goal. That was to come.

But before Chivu's goal there was still much to worry the England management. From the back four, through the midfield and in attack every single England player was guilty of giving the ball away. Highly remunerated professionals they are all, but this was amateur football. Only Keown could say he performed.

And like the Portuguese, Romania know what to do when given the ball. Pass and move. Dan Petrescu gave it to Viorel Moldovan in the 15th minute and he put a shot on target. Seven minutes later England failed to clear a corner and when Chivu picked the ball up he rounded the back of the defence and sent in a chip to the far post. Moldovan was waiting there but the ball hit the post and crossed the line.

England were already abysmal. The players were also beginning to fight amongst themselves. In the 34th minute Keown lambasted Gary Neville for allowing Ilie a free header from 12 yards. The Romanian would have expected to score, but instead he headed straight at Martyn.

Quickly after that Gary Neville was again exposed, this time by Chivu, who left him stranded on the half-way line and bore down on the England box before lashing the ball over. The moment encapsulated everything about the night. Neville, an accomplished Premiership player, left looking like a novice.

And England got away with that. Their luck got even better when from a throw-in Shearer held the ball up in the Romanian area for a first time. Paul Ince darted forward, Shearer slid the ball into his path. When Ince was tackled by Chivu, Ince seemed to trod on the ball - although there was contact - and fell over. The referee gave a penalty. Up stepped Shearer to drill it in. It was his 30th and final England goal. He never received the chance to make it 31.

It was to get worse for the Romanians. On the stroke of half-time Ince nudged on a bouncing ball in midfield to Scholes. Scholes transferred the ball over the Romania back line in similar style. Onside, Owen was off. So too was the excitable keeper Bogdan Stelea. Owen got to the ball first, nicked around Stelea and ran it in. It was the fourth minute of first-half injury-time. From being 1-0 down England were suddenly 2-1 up.

Justice decreed that it did not last and the second half was young when the score changed again. A basic lack of communication was the cause. Working the ball intelligently on the edge of the England area, Mutu came up with a cross from the right that both Martyn and Keown chased. Keown hampered Martyn's punch and Munteanu thumped the loose ball precisely past both of them.

Romania were running the game again. Gareth Southgate came on for Scholes, presumably to shore up the back four. But Romania kept passing the ball. And controlling it. They needed the win. When Moldovan jinked at Philip Neville late on down the right, it and justice were coming.

Moldovan rushed into the box but may have been about to lose control as he approached the byline. Neville clattered him anyway. In a way the tackle was unnecessary. Penalty. There were no complaints and Ganea made no mistake.

England were out. Again they failed to grace a major tournament, but in the dejected manner of the players' departure from the Charleroi pitch was the suggestion that they knew they were not good enough. And that justice had been done.