Kevin Keegan has described the ''horrendous'' personal abuse hurled at his players by a handful of so-called England fans after their Euro 2000 defeat by Portugal as the ''worst'' he had ever heard.

And as he revealed that he had been tempted to go back down the tunnel to remonstrate with those responsible, he declared that he ''took (his) hat off to the players for not reacting more strongly''.

One player who did react to the abuse, which was understood to have had an element of anti-Manchester United bias as well as personal attacks on him and his family, was David Beckham.

The midfielder, who escaped disciplinary action earlier this season for aiming a V-sign at Leeds fans who were verbally abusing his pop star wife Victoria and baby Brooklyn, will similarly not be punished by UEFA for apparently aiming a one-fingered retort in Eindhoven.

Beckham must unfortunately learn that reacting in such a way is just what the mindless element who attack him are looking for - but Keegan knows from a measure of personal experience just what Beckham has to endure.

Keegan, who was at pains to make it clear that the trouble had come from ''eight to 10'' apparently drunken people rather than the thousands of other England fans, declared: ''I've had plenty of abuse from a fan but this was way beyond anything I'd ever heard before.

''It started even at half-time a little bit but obviously got worse at the end. It's got nothing to do with the game of football, it was very personal. It's something we all have to put up with at times and I like to think we do it quite well. But there is a limit to what any human being can take and it got way beyond that limit.''

The England coach, who admitted that he would have had trouble containing his own temper at such abuse, added: ''If it had been me, I think I'd have. . .

''As you've seen before, I have chased a fan at Ipswich once who gave me some abuse and then smashed me on the head through the dug-out. I was warned by the police that I could be charged.

"But if you'd had to take that abuse in Eindhoven and your sons or daughters had been listening to that, I take my hat off to the players that they didn't react more strongly.

"I would have said something if I could have gone back down the tunnel. I just couldn't believe it. It was ferocious, it was totally unacceptable and very personal.''

While Beckham was not the only player who was subjected to the abuse, it seems that he was at the centre of a considerable part of it and there have been depressing cases in the past of United players being booed at Wembley.

Keegan declared: ''These players play for England. They have an England badge with three lions on. I just felt very sorry for them.

''I think David handles himself fantastically if you think that he is getting even 50per cent of that some days in his life. We should talk more about how he handles it than what these people are doing to him.

''I don't have any worries about his temperament at all. I hope he is given the credit for his performance and it doesn't get overshadowed.''

While Beckham was clearly England's best performer in Eindhoven as they let an early 2-0 lead slip away to lose 3-2, Keegan paid tribute to the overwhelming majority of those who supported the team.

He said: ''The fans were fantastic. You mustn't think that those few mindless ones should spoil what was a fantastic performance by our fans.

''They were magnificent, got behind us and never stopped supporting us. It's just sad that it should end that way in that we're talking about eight to 10 people. I don't understand that sort of person and I don't even know if I want to. I think we had the most magnificent support there.

"Officially we had 7,000 or 8,000 but in reality it was probably 20,000 or 25,000. They couldn't have done any more to help us win the game and that spurred us on.''

l Portugal match-winner Nuno Gomes claims England blew their chances of winning the opening Euro 2000 clash in Eindhoven because they were running scared.

Gomes bagged the decider in Portugal's 3-2 win after early goals from Paul Scholes and Steve McManaman had put England in control.

The Benfica striker, whose goal was his first for his country at senior level said: ''It would have been a lot harder for us to win if England had carried on playing the way they did in the opening part of the game.

''They looked very good attacking-wise and David Beckham put over some great ball. But after we scored the first goal England changed the way they played and started to go back, more defensively, after that.

''They were afraid of us, they got scared that we would score a second goal.'