2–0 win. Despite having a quiet first half in England's next game against the Netherlands, McManaman was involved in all of England's first three goals against the opposition and it was later expressed that he led the counter-attack. At the time, he supplied the inside cut final pass for Ince who was subsequently brought down in the area for a penalty which Shearer scored from. Additionally, his cross to Anderton was deflected for a corner kick from which Sheringham headed the second goal and his quick one-two with Gascoigne led to England's third and Shearer's second in the game which ended up in a 4–1 victory. This was believed to be a landmark result at the time. Frequently man-marked in the quarter-final against Spain, McManaman burst back into the latter part of the semi-final against Germany and in the final moments of extra-time nearly assisted Darren Anderton in scoring a late winner. However, Anderton's shot from McManaman's cross hit the post and the ball bounced back into the hands of the goalkeeper. Together with team-mates Gascoigne, Shearer and David Seaman, McManaman was listed in the official Team of the Tournament, as well as shortlisted behind eventual winner, Jürgen Klinsmann, for the Most Valuable Player award. 1997–99: England success and 1998 FIFA World Cup McManaman, however, failed to win over new England coach Glenn Hoddle despite being in excellent club form in the years Hoddle was in charge, raising questions about either his effort, his attitude, or his relationship with the manager, with some sections of the British press even lobbying Hoddle to pick McManaman. Roy Evans (McManaman's coach at the time) also voiced his opinion regarding his England situation to The Independent before the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, saying: "There is not a player like him in England. I think he's fantastic, he's certainly a great asset from our point of view...We don't pick the England team but I see him as the perfect linkman in the international team. But that's only our opinion. We believe he is top, top quality." Hoddle stated in interviews that he wanted McManaman to take up that very licence to be the bridge between David Beckham and Paul Gascoigne, and often spoke highly of McManaman's ability, but noted that McManaman's best position was "floating" dangerously and it was hard to fit him into a system to suit the team and so he often