Kevin Keegan admitted that his team just wasn't good enough to progress to the Euro 2000 quarter-finals after a last-gasp Romanian penalty sent England crashing out of the tournament tonight.

Phil Neville's clumsy 88th-minute foul on Viorel Moldovan gave substitute striker Ioan Ganea the chance to send goalkeeper Nigel Martyn the wrong way and give the euphoric and disbelieving Romanians a 3-2 comeback win.

Keegan said: 'We did not play well enough but with five minutes to go I thought we could hang on to something. But it was not to be. I've told lads the reasons we are on our way home.

'We got into a position of being 2-1 up but we never played as well as we can. We have to ask if we can pass it better and control a game. The answer in this tournament is sadly no.

'There was plenty of determination. If it was about endeavour and honesty we would have won the tournament.

'But you don't win it with honesty alone. We have spent three matches chasing a football. When we got it we gave it away.

Keegan said he was 'devastated' after watching his team surrender a 2-1 half-time lead when needing only a draw to qualify for a quarter-final against Group B winners Italy.

Defender Cristian Chivu had chipped a cross in off the post to put Romania into a deserved 23rd-minute, before retiring captain Alan Shearer's 40th-minute penalty was swiftly followed by a Michael Owen tap-in to put England in front.

But, just three minutes after the break, outstanding midfielder Dorinel Munteanu pounced on a poor punch from stand-in keeper Nigel Martyn, who was playing because of a pre-match warm-up injury to David Seaman.

With England hanging on for much of the second period, the pressure eventually told when Manchester United left-back Phil Neville needlessly hacked down Viorel Moldovan near the bye-line for Swiss referee Urs Meier to blow for the killer spot-kick.

But Keegan was more concerned with the technical failings of his team: 'You get like a boxer taking so many punches. We were shipping so much water and never trusted each other enough with the ball.'

Speaking on BBC Television, he added: 'We have World Cup qualifiers now and because of Alan Shearer retiring there will be changes. We have to look at the next mountain we have to climb.

'We have to believe in our ability to pass the ball. If you asked players who play in the Premiership to do certain jobs you expect them to do it.

'Now we have to go away and lick our wounds.'

Meanwhile, Romanian coach Emerich Jenei said the absence of suspended skipper Gheorghe Hagi had inspired his players.

'I thank my team because they were very confident and able to qualify,' he said.

'Because Hagi was absent, they tried to make up for it. We showed today we are a good team. The penalty was not a penalty - it was a present.'

Dorinel Munteanu, who scored Romania's equaliser, said the team thoroughly deserved their victory because of the number of scoring opportunities created.

'We played well," he said. 'We played to win and we got a lot of chances to do that.'