history by becoming the first player without first-team experience to play for the England under-21 team, being handed a debut call-up by Lawrie McMenemy against Wales at Tranmere in October 1990, two months before he debuted for the Liverpool first-team. McMenemy commented that he had seen "more fat on a chip" referring to McManaman's skinny physique. In February 1993, McManaman captained the under-21 team for the first time against San Marino and scored the last goal in a convincing 6–0 win. 1993–97: First-team games and UEFA Euro 1996 Terry Venables gave McManaman his full debut on 16 November 1994 in an international friendly with Nigeria at Wembley, McManaman coming on as a replacement for Rob Lee. By 1995, McManaman was accused of struggling to repeat his fine club form with his country, drawing comparisons to his mentor at Liverpool, John Barnes. However, he managed to string together a series of match winning performances for his country at UEFA Euro 1996, earning praise from Pelé, who according to the BBC touted him as the tournament's best player and said he was the player he "was most impressed" by; before going on to say that he was "one of the best players in Europe" and could be the "best in the world" (at the time). The tournament began with a game against Switzerland in which McManaman swapped interchangeably with Darren Anderton) and created "all kinds of problems on the left". McManaman and Teddy Sheringham, and later Paul Gascoigne, were then substituted in order to save them for the next game by Venables when England were leading 1–0 with 15 minutes remaining. This decision led to an immediate outpouring of unhappiness and jeering from the crowd at Wembley. Following this, England switched to a defensive 4–5–1 formation which saw them concede a late penalty and end up drawing the game 1–1. McManaman was noted by pundits for his "mesmerising dribbling skills" and willingness to take players on. Gary McAllister later claimed in the BBC's post-match analysis of England's next game against Scotland that it was Venables' change of England's tactics at half-time to switch to a five-man midfield and introduce Jamie Redknapp into the midfield that allowed McManaman the freedom to open up the Scottish defence. McAllister believed that this changed the game, with Redknapp and McManaman unlocking the openings which led to Gary Neville's cross for Alan Shearer's headed opener in the