London: England assistant coach Steve McClaren was hired for the top job on Thursday and shrugged off suggestions he was far from the first choice.
While the Football Association dismissed reports it offered Luiz Felipe Scolari the position a week ago, McClaren began warming the seat he will inherit from Sven-Goran Eriksson after the World Cup, and declared himself the proudest man in England.
"The FA had to pick the best man for the job and I believe they have," he said after signing a four-year contract, which takes him through the 2008 European Championship and the 2010 World Cup. "That's all that matters."
McClaren, the Middlesbrough manager, was revealed as the favorite only in the last few days, after three months of speculation that the FA had been chasing bigger name candidates including Scolari, PSV Eindhoven and Australia coach Guus Hiddink and former Celtic manager Martin O'Neill.
"I always felt I was in the process and that's how it turned out," McClaren said. "I've been very comfortable with the process and very comfortable, as you can imagine, with the outcome as I sit here as probably the proudest man in England."
FA chief executive Brian Barwick said McClaren had been his number one choice all along, and was the unanimous selection of the three-man panel set up to find a new manager.
But he said he met three times with Scolari, the current Portugal coach who led Brazil to World Cup success four years ago.
McClaren, who has been Eriksson's assistant for five years, will start in the job on August 1. The team will face European champions Greece in a friendly at Old Trafford on August 16.
The FA picked an Englishman to succeed Eriksson, a Swede who was the first foreigner to coach the national team. Eriksson is stepping down after the World Cup, two years before the end of his contract.
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"He is well liked and well respected by the players and staff. I have no doubt that he has all the credentials to be very successful in the job and wish him all the best," Eriksson said.
McClaren, who also served as Alex Ferguson's assistant at Manchester United for two years, has guided Middlesbrough to next Wednesday's UEFA Cup final against Sevilla. It's the first European final for the club.
"I have hugely enjoyed my time at Middlesbrough and am very grateful to the club," McClaren said. "However, this was an opportunity I couldn't refuse."
McClaren's appointment will please those England fans that oppose hiring another foreign coach and believe a homegrown manager should head the national team.
McClaren said he could win over skeptical fans by guiding England to major titles.
Other candidates for the England job had included Bolton's Sam Allardyce and Charlton's Alan Curbishley.
O'Neill, who left his job at Celtic a year ago to be with his sick wife, was the initial favorite along with Hiddink.
Hiddink, who led both the Netherlands and South Korea to the World Cup semifinals and is coaching Australia at next month's World Cup in Germany, is taking charge of Russia instead.
McClaren seemed to slide out of contention after some poor English Premier League results, including a 7-0 loss at Arsenal and 4-0 defeat at home to Aston Villa, left 'Boro close to relegation trouble. But the team climbed up the table, beat champion Chelsea 3-0, and reached the FA Cup semifinals as well as the UEFA Cup final in Eindhoven.
He admitted he did not believe he would have been offered the job when he was going through that poor spell from December to early February.
"It was a test for me and I got through it," said the new England manager.
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