STEVE McClaren last night said he was the proudest man in the country after being confirmed as the new England manager.

The Middlesbrough boss was finally named at a hastily-arranged Press conference in Soho Square, London, yesterday, ending the Football Association's tortuous three-and-a-half-month search for Sven-Goran Eriksson's successor.

McClaren had looked certain to miss out on the post when FA chief executive Brian Barwick approached Brazilian Luiz Felipe Scolari last week.

But after the Portugal manager dropped out of the running on Friday, the 45-year-old became the unanimous choice of the six-man nominations panel.

"This is the biggest honour that any coach can have," said McClaren, who will take charge of his final Middlesbrough game when the Teessiders take on Spanish side Seville in the final of the Uefa Cup on Wednesday.

"It is obviously the highlight of my career. It is a massive challenge and one that I welcome. I have hugely enjoyed my time at Middlesbrough and am very grateful to the club.

"However, this was an opportunity I couldn't refuse and I am probably the proudest man in England today.

"To manage your country is the greatest honour that can be bestowed on anyone."

McClaren will continue to assist Eriksson in this summer's World Cup, in Germany, before taking over on August 1.

His first game in charge of England will be a friendly against Greece, at Old Trafford, on August 16, and his four-year contract means he will be at the helm for the 2008 European Championships in Austria and Switzerland, and the 2010 World Cup, in South Africa.

England still have to qualify for both of those championships but, with the present squad arguably as strong as any in the past, McClaren is setting his sights on the country's second major trophy.

"I am results-orientated and I am here to do a job," he said.

"That is to win matches and make sure England win a major trophy over the next four years.

"I expect us to have a good World Cup and I am extremely excited about that. Then I am confident I can make the step up, because I have made similar steps up before."

McClaren shrugged off suggestions that he would suffer from not having been the FA's first-choice candidate.

"I don't see it as a case of first choice or second choice," he said.

"I am the choice, and I sit here as England manager."

Barwick maintained that McClaren was the first choice, saying Scolari was never offered the job, despite last week's much-publicised meeting in Lisbon.

"It has been a tortuous process, but we hit the target," said Barwick. It started in early March and it ended in May. We have had a job to do and it has taken us as long as it has taken us.

"I saw Felipe Scolari on three occasions. There were potential developments. He then declared he had no interest in the job. We never offered him the job.

"Steve did two fantastic interviews. He was always my first choice.

"That might be difficult for people to get their heads across."

McClaren's departure leaves Middlesbrough searching for a new manager, only five days before they play the biggest game in their 130-year history.

Former Celtic manager Martin O'Neill and ex-Charlton boss Alan Curbishley are the early favourites, with former Boro defender Tony Mowbray the choice of most supporters.

* Newcastle's search for a new manager suffered a major blow last night when the Premier League rejected their application to install Glenn Roeder, despite the caretaker lacking the UEFA Pro Licence needed to manage in the top-flight.