- 30 Jun 08, 04:58 PM
My colleague Saj Chowdhury has done a bit of a straw poll in the office and here is our(unofficial) team of Euro 2008.
You can see how it compares to the official team here.
Fernando Torres was your star of the final in Player Rater and deservedly so after winning the cup for Spain.
But his two goals in the tournament weren't enough to get him into our overall team. Have we got it right or have we dropped the ball?
4-4-2 formation
Goalkeeper:
Gianluigi Buffon was one of the stars in a defensive-minded Italian team. The superb penalty save from Romania's Adrian Mutu gave the Italians a lifeline in the competition and he also produced another remarkable save from France's Karim Benzema.
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Others:
Spain's Iker Casillas was the star of the show against the Italians in the quarter-finals, saving two penalties. Turkey's Volkan Demirel was an imposing figure and made two great saves from Swiss pair Ricardo Cabanas and Gökhan Inler and one from Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo.
Defenders:
The right-back slot goes to Sergio Ramos, who covered as much of the pitch as team-mate Marcos Senna in the final and was playing out of position during the tournament.
The centre-back pairing consists of Italy's Giorgio Chiellini, for his consistency and outstanding performance against Spain, and Carlos Marchena, who was a leader at the back for Spain.
The left-back slot goes to Giovanni van Bronckhorst, whose energy levels were extraordinary. His best performance came in the opening game against Italy when he scored and then created a goal, joining two swift counter-attacking moves.
Others:
Portugal's Pepe, full-backs Philipp Lahm of Germany and Spain's Joan Capdevila were all on the fringes of our select XI and were great examples of defenders who are also effective at the other end of the field.
Midfielders:
Spain's Andres Iniesta can play either left or right wing so we've put him on the right. In any case, he had to be included. His fleetness of foot and deft touch was a joy to behold and was at the centre of everything good about his side's forays forward.
The central midfield slots go to Spain's Marcos Senna and Netherlands' Wesley Sneijder. BBC Match of the Day analyst Martin O'Neill made Senna his player of the tournament and understandably so. He allowed the likes of Iniesta, Xavi, David Silva and Cesc Fabregas to strut their stuff further upfield and provided the link between defence and attack.
Sneijder, who worked across the middle, finally showed his true worth on the world stage as the engine of a powerful Dutch midfield. His sublime flick against Italy, followed by a wondrous strike against France, will live in the memories of fans for a long time to come.
And last but not least, Turkey's Arda Turan takes the left spot. The 21-year-old for Galatasaray was one of the stars of the tournament - scoring a spectacular winner against the Swiss, finding the net against the Czechs to start a Turkey fightback and scoring in the shoot-out against Croatia.
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Others:
Czech Republic's Libor Sionko, Croatia's Ivan Rakitic and the German pair of Torsten Frings and Michael Ballack are all worthy of a shout because of their consistent, high-level performances.
Forwards:
What both Spain's David Villa and Russia's Andrei Arshavin have is a turn of pace and a lot of guile. Villa was expected to play second fiddle to strike partner Fernando Torres but instead he became the tournament's top scorer, opening his account with a hat-trick against Russia.
The much-talked about Arshavin was suspended for the first two group games but was simply scintillating when he returned to the first team, injecting some much needed vitality. His best performance came against the free-scoring Dutch when he scored and provided an assist during the 3-1 win.
Others:
Netherlands' Ruud van Nistelrooy, Russia's Roman Pavlyuchenko and Turkey's Nihat Kahveci all had their moments in the spotlight and leave the tournament with their heads held high.
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I'd go for:
Casillas
Ramos, Marchena, Pepe, Zhirkov
Senna
Sneijder, Fabregas, Silva
Arshavin, Villa
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No Xavi in midfield? hmm.
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I knew the absence of Xavi would cause controversy.
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Of course it will, he was Spain's best player after Senna in this tournament.
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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
ramos was not playing out of position. right back is actually his preferred position despite having been played mostly at centre back recently for madrid
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What about Zambrotta?? I thought he put in excellent performances in every game in which Italy 'played'. He was consistent, his passing was good and I don't ever remember him being caught out of position.
I also have to question the inclusion of Philip Lahm - unless you are asking for an example of appalling defending and a complete inability to mark an opposing player. Despite his goal, he was attrocious.
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So Arshavin plays one decent game, one good game and a completely anonymous game and he takes the place of the person who won the final for Spain?
And then you don't even mention Torres as one of your "others"? Very strange.
Also strange how the PLAYER OF THE TOURNAMENT is not in your XI.
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lol Fabregas ahead of Xavi and Iniesta! Guess you're a Gooner.
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Arshavin was fantastic against Holland, but not only did he miss the first two games, he completely went missing when it really mattered against Spain. Crazy to put him in the team of the tournament. His place up front should go to Torres (blew hot and cold, but a matchwinner when it mattered) with mentions for Pavylchenko and Van Nistelrooy.
Can't believe Lahm gets a mention - he was once a great player but he had a shocking tournament, so bad in the final he had to be taken off. Best left back by a mile was Zhirkov.
You also completely ignore two of the best creative midfielders - Deco and Modric and the quietly inspirational Puyol.
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My team
Buffon
Zhirkov Chiellini Marchena Van Bronckhorst
Schweinsteiger Senna Snejider Modric
Villa Pavluchenko
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No Zhirkov or Anyukov?
I would have gone for:
Casillas
Anyukov Marchena Chiellini Zhirkov
Iniesta Senna Xavi Turan
Villa Podolski
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I've also got a bad team of Euro 2008.
Nikopolidis
Ferreira Mertesacker Metzelder Abidal
Don't know about midfield
Gomez Koller
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ill go 4-2-3-1
buffon
bosignwa chiellini marchena van bronkhurst
frings senna
sneijnder ballack fabregas
torres
subs -
casillas
kovac
capdevilla
modric
xavi
podolski
villa
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I feel bad for Artur Boruc; he kept a defensively woeful team in each of the three matches than they deserved to be with brilliant saves, and despite his level of activity he made barely any mistakes.
Casillas may still edge it as my number one because he had a lengthier tournament with which to prove his credentials, and did so marvellously; Buffon may still have a strong claim to be the best goalkeeper in the world but in such a defensive team he wasn't called upon to show his class anywhere near as often as Casillas or Boruc.
Thus while I'd take Buffon certainly over Boruc and maybe Casillas too, looking at the performances in THIS TOURNAMENT, he's certainly behind those two for me, and Edwin Van der Sar too who was near faultless.
And I have to echo the bewilderment at Phillip Lahm's inclusion, even as an 'honorable mention': his form has been in serious question for two years and whilst he showed great attacking threat in patches, defensively he was a massive liability and performed awfully in at least three of Germany's six games. His selection in the 'backup' capacity is staggering!
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Casillas
Ramos - Puyol - Chielleni - Van Bronckhorst
Iniesta - Senna - Xavi - Sneijder
Villa - Podolski
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Er, Lahm? Que? What about Garics from Austria? Austria may have been terrible, but he looked class. Was the best player in their team by far. Also, you chose a player who got sent off instead of Van Der Saar in goal! Why? VDS made some awesome saves despite being sooo old! As for Arshavin, this is the usual case of jumping on the bandwagon. If you cant contribute something different, dont contribute at all. Arshavin played 3 games in this tournament - 1 was brilliant against a poor Swedish team, one was good against a tired Dutch team, and one was anonymous against the Spanish. Not good enough! Podolski was far better, and should have at least had a mention.
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no xavi nd not even a mention of altintop?
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The formation I would use for the team of the tournament would be a 4-4-1-1.
In between the sticks, I was really impressed by Bogdan Lobont of Romania in the group stages but I feel he isn't good enough to cope with the pressures at a big side. Therefore I'd have to select Casillas, a commanding presence with excellent shot stopping skills and confidence to leave his line to punch crosses.
At right back, I think it's difficult to argue with Sergio Ramos. Good defensively especially in the air but also dangerous on the attack. I think the left side of defence, there was no stand out performer in my eyes. But I am continously impressed by Zambrotta when I watch him so he'll fill that position. For the two centre backs, again it's difficult to argue with the BBC's choices. However I was particularly fond of Holland's Andre Ooijer and his anticipation of the game along with his defensive credentials. I'd stick with Chiellini, a solid defender in all aspects.
On the wings, I'd settle for Sneijder and Podolski. Sneijder was the creative talent in an impressive Dutch team, a constant thorn in the side of any defence he came across his passing always accurate and two goals aided his team's early performances. As for Podolski, he was a threat in every game but the final. His assists and goals were vital for an underperforming German side.
In the central midfield positions, the Spanish duo of Marcos Senna and Xavi Hernandez would be selected. Senna acting as the defensive element never stopped moving throughout the games breaking attacks and providing the ball to the attacking element of his team. Xavi's creative element would be a vital element of the team his guile and ability to play a broad spectrum of passes was incredible.
In 'the hole' Russia's starman Andrei Arshavin would provide the creative element in the frontline. His movement and trickery would provide a bridge between the midfield and his strike partner who would be scorer of the winning goal in the Final, Fernando Torres. An all round striker, good in the air and pacey Torres would be the physical upfront presence in a technically wonderful team.
So my XI would look like this:
Casillas
Ramos
Ooijer
Chiellini
Zambrotta
Sneijder
Senna
Xavi
Podolski
Arshavin
Torres
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Buffon- Yes, possibly the best goalkeeper i have ever seen
Ramos- Definitely, a great back both in attack and defence
Marchena and Chielinni- No to marchena as Puyol was spain's driving force along with casillas in defence. Chielinni was excellent in a poor italian side.
Van Bronkhorst- Yes but i can't believe pranic the crotian left back got no mention from anyone as he had a very, very good tournament and i believe that croatia may have won the tournament despite some freakish luck and self belief on behalf of the turks.
Senna - My man of the tournament, supreme
Sniejder- Would look good in a united shirt it has to be said. A very good player.
Iniesta- Yes
Arda- no as Silva was simply brilliant throughout.
Xavi has to be included instead of Arshavin because he played three games and looked very average, infact non existent against spain. Flash in the pan, if he was that good would have been bought along time ago by a bigger team than Zenit.
Villa has to go up top as he was sensational and very hard working and top scorer.
My Team-
4-5-1
Buffon
Ramos Puyol Chiellini Van Bronkhorst
Senna
Sniejder Xavi
Iniesta Silva
Villa
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Is anyone forgetting about the romanian leftback Rat? i know it's an unfortunate name, but i thought he was outstanding against italy and france, would make my team ahead of capdevilla.
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My team would be:
Casillas
Ramos Puyol Pepe Zhirkov
Iniesta Senna Sneijder Podolski
Villa Torres
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this cant be serious!!!
- Torsten frings (only played final, provin whoever named these players only watched the knockout stages)
- Ruud Van Nistelrooy (one had 1 decent game)
What happened to....
- zIRKHOV (best left back by far)
- Olic (better tournament than ruud)
- Schweinsteiger ( 2 excellent goals)
also.. modric..altintop....semih...Tuncay
the official euro squad was much more accurate then the bbc
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Bad Midfield
Rofles, he looked very poor against turkey
Bolton's new signing Elmander i thought was woeful, kept giving the ball away
Hitzelsperger did nothing every game he played
And Florent Malouda another chelsea casualty
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O yes a big up to olic, the hardest worker of the tournament!!
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not even a mention of Xavi??
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i think you ought to mention German Lukas Podolsky. He was a class apart, which also reverberates in his 3 goals in the competition.
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Here's a quick go (though apologies for any spelling mistakes):-
Best Team
Casillas (Spa),
Ramos (Spa) Kolodin (Rus) Marchena (Spa) Simunic (Cro),
Iniesta (Spa) Senna (Spa) Schweinsteiger (Ger) Turan (Tur),
Villa (Spa) Sehmi (Tur)
Subs
Buffon (Ita) Van Der Saar (Hol), Zhirkov (Rus) Puyol (Spa) Pepe (Por), Frings (Ger) Fabregas (Spa) Modric (Cro) Ballack (Ger), Nihat (Tur) Van Nistelrooy (Hol) Yakin (Swi) Pavyluchenko (Rus)
Worst Team
Nikopolidis (Gre)
Freidrich (Ger) Metzelder (Ger) Mertesacker (Ger) Abidal (Fra),
Makele (Fra) Linderoth (Swe) Gattuso (Ita)Malouda (Fra),
Toni (Ita) Gomis (Fra)
Subs
Ricardo (Por) Lehmann (Ger), Sagnol (Fra) Ujfalusi (Cze) Lahm (Ger), Basinas (Gre) Fernandes (Swi) Krzynowek (Pol) Karagounis (Gre), Gomez (Ger) Anelka (Fra) Baros (Cze)
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I cannot believe the Lahm gets a mention here - some good spells of attacking, especially late in the Turkey game but he is a defender and defensively he was poor.
Ballack and Frings - I reckon Frings is the real star in the German midfield as he allows Ballack to play but playing with an injury, he was never at his best.
I would go with
Casillas
Ramos, Puyol, chiellini, Van Bronckhorst
Iniesta, Senna, Ballack, Schweinsteiger
Villa, Podolsky
Bench: Buffon, Asharvin, Marchena, Arda, Altintorp, Sniejder
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Looking at that team even Robert Mugabe would admit that the straw poll was a farce
So Bad its funny
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Casillas
Ramos Marchena Chellini Zhirkov
Arda Senna Altintop Iniesta
Semih Villa
Thats about right
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Casillas
Buffon
Ramos
Bosingwa
Zhirkov
Ballack
Frings
Schweinsteiger
Podolski
Pavlyochenko
Arshavin
Torres
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Id have senna in, but a lot of midfield holders get overated. He wasnt as effective in the final and didnt have a very good game I dont think.
As much as I like arshavin, he only had one game where he did anything.
...same with Torres.
The best player was either xavi or villa.
Ballack is also a bit overated and Im a bit tired of his diving and then moaning at others who dive.
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@pxm1969
"Can't believe Lahm gets a mention - he was once a great player but he had a shocking tournament, so bad in the final he had to be taken off."
International viewers may not have received the information that Lahm was substituted because of a bleeding wound on his foot which had to be stitched at half time.
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4- 4-2
casillas
vanbronchorst
marchena
zhirkov
sneijder
xavi
ballack
schweinsteiger
torres
pavyuchenko
podolski
subs:
villa
modric
buffon
van nistelrooy
materzelder
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mine would be...
4-5-1 formation
casillas(spain)
ramos(spain)
marchena(spain)
pepe(por)
zhirkov(russia)
arshavin(russia)
xavi(spain)
senna(spain)
ballack(ger)
silva(spain)
villa(spain)
subs:
altintop(tur)
sniedjer(holland)
buffon(ita)
puyol(spain)
pavalyuchenko(russia)
schweinsteiger(ger)
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my team:
cassillas
ramos, marchena, puyol, capdevilla
iniesta, senna, alonso, silva
torres, villa
hmmmm!
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best team:
Casillias
Bouhlarouz
Cheillini
Puyol
Zhirkov
Schwiensteiger
Ballack
Senna
Podolski
Arshavin
Villa.
Worst Team:
Rustu
Ferreira
Metszelder
Thuram
Abidal
Simao
Rofles
Petit
Malouda
Toni
Anelka
Team that was expected to do well, but didn't! (Not bad, but none of the players did as well as they should've)
Cech
Lahm
Carvalho
Mattarazzi
Evra
Ronaldo
Van Der Vaart
Pirlo
Ribery
Gomez
Torres
Team that exceeded all expectations
(Not amazing, but better than expected)
Demirel
Capdavilla
Ooijer
Pepe
Van Bronkhorst
Kuyt
De Jong
Yakim
Nihat
Pavlyuchenko
Guiza
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Spanish mid field maestro Marcos was easily the most influential player to emerge from Euro 2008. Hats off to the supremely talented Spaniard.
Dr. Cajetan Coelho
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I thought I'd explain why Lahm gets an honourable mention.
When the chips are down and you need a good overlapping full-back then he would be one of the men I would turn to.
This tournament was about "attack, attack, attack, attack, attack" - to quote a footy chant.
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yh id have 2 agree with that team Saj, uefa dont no wat they are thinking about with their squad. Anyways eres mine:
Team In 3-4-3
GK: Buffon (Italy)
RB: Ramos (Spain)
CB: Simunic (Croatia)
LB: Van Bronkhorst (Holland)
RM: Schwingster (Germany)
CM: Hamit Altintop (Turkey)
CM: Fabregas (Spain)
LM: Arda (Turkey)
RF: Semih (Turkey)
CF: Villa (Spain)
LF: Podolski (Germany)
Subs:
GK: Casillas (Spain)
RB: Sabri (Turkey)
LB: Pranjic (Croatia)
CM: Modric (Croatia)
CF: Nihat (Turkey)
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What did Van Der Sar do to deserve to be behind the nutter who shoved Jan Koller over?
My team:
Casillas
Ramos
Chiellini
Puyol
Van Bronckhorst
Xavi
Senna
Iniesta
Podolski
Villa
Pavluchenko
SUBS:
Van Der Sar
Pepe
Sneijder
Fabregas
Modric
Ballack
Arshavin
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I really don't know what the fuss is about with Iniesta, he was the least effective player in Spain's midfield. Casillas was rarely tested during the entire tournament so how can he be the best keeper?? Here's my team:
Buffon
Ramos, Pepe, Simunic, Van Bronkhorst
Modric, Ballack, Senna, Sneijder
Villa, Pavlyuchenko
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Let me get this right.
You've included Lahm who should have been sent off for a second bookable offence before he scored the late winner against Portugal and then relaxed to let Torres in to chip Lehaman!
You've omitted Fabregas!
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SheepskinMotson, I think the guys in the office were won over by Volkan ever since he made that great save from Cristiano Ronaldo.
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This tournament was about "attack, attack, attack, attack, attack" - to quote a footy chant.
____________
Does that apply to Poland? Greece? France? Germany even?
Were you actually watching games like Croatia v Turkey? Or Austria v Poland?
Rarely seen worse games than those and some others.
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I thought I'd explain why Lahm gets an honourable mention.
When the chips are down and you need a good overlapping full-back then he would be one of the men I would turn to.
____________
Lahm had some great moments offensively, but Torres' goal in the final and Semih's equalizer in the semi were simply inexcusable. There were better fullbacks in the tournament who didn't make such errors on the defensive end, like Van Bronckhorst and Zhirkov.
My team (4-2-3-1):
Casillas
Ramos Chiellini Pepe Zhirkov
Fabregas Senna
Sionko Arshavin Podolski
Torres
Also, why isn't anybody talking about Fabregas? Fabregas off the bench was magnificent and influential throughout the tournament, particularly in the semi against Russia. Why he wasn't starting over Silva or Iniesta is beyond me...
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Team of the tournament would have to be:
GK: Casillas
RB: Bosingwa (mono brow)
CB's: Puyol, Marchena
LB: Zirkhov
RM: Iniesta
CM's: Fabregas, Xavi, Senna
LM: Podolski
STRIKER: Pavlyuchenko
Lahm was awful, Arshavin had one good game and i absolutely agree that everyone is jumping on the bandwagon. BBC's selection is very weak considering the so called "expertise" behind the selections
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Casillas
Ramos
Chiellini
Pepe
Zhirkov
Sneijder
Deco
Podoloski
Schweinsteiger
Iniesta
Pavlychenko
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have you forgotten how good modric and pranjic of Croatia were in the group phase. Also how can you not have the player of the tournament in your team?
My team would be:
Akinfeev
Anyukov, Ooijer, Puyol, Pranjic
Iniesta, Xavi, Senna, Modric
Villa, Pavlyuchenko
subs:
Van der saar
Marchena
Ballack
Van der vaart
Fabregas
Podolski
Worst team:
Nikopolidis
Lichsteiner, Mertesacker, Matterazzi, Abidal
Ambrosini, Toulalan, Makelele, Malouda
Mario Gomes, Benzema
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no puyol the best ch in the competion i agree with sport 123 i think he has got it spot on
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Good as Senna and Sneijder were, difficult to believe you left Modric out!
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How can Modric not even get a mention at all?!
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The team is made tough by a lack of any good centre halves at the whole tournament. Even Chiellini who played well is a left-back converted to a centre-half!!
Casillas
Ramos Pepe Gorkan Zan Hakan Balta
Arshavin Sneijder Senna Arda
Pavlyuchenko Villa
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OH no, no Ronaldo!! Not even on everybody's substitute lists. Now the poor boy will really sulk and we will have to send Queiroz to reassure him that he is the best.
Maybe Ronaldo will now know that he is the best because other players around him at Man. U make him the best. It is the unselfish plays of Rooney, Tevez, Evra, Scholes etc. that makes him look good.
Well, let him go to Real Madrid and collide with egos of Schneider, RVN, Robinho and he will know what he has at Man. U.
Roxborough head of the EUFA technical team commented:
Explaining Ronaldo's absence, Roxburgh said he was a member of an impressive Portugal team which reached the quarterfinals but then went out 3-2 to Germany. Ronaldo could have been included if the team had made it to the semifinals and he had played well. But the only Portuguese players in the squad were defenders Jose Bosingwa and Pepe.
So Mr. Roxborough, if Portugal did not go beyond quarterfinals, why include Bosingwa and Pepe?
Fact is Ronaldo stunk. His ego got the better of him and Real are now having second thoughts!!
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this is a strange team, dont know why ive picked it, maybe its the best one in the tournament.
casillas
ramos, puyol, marchena, capdevila
senna, silva, xavi, iniesta, fabregas
torres
correct me if im wrong but did this team not win euro 2008?
therefore becoming the team of euro 2008!
torres rocks!
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GK-Casillas (Always was solid)
RB-Bouhlarouz (Seemed only Dutch player to be solid)
LB-Lahm (Without doubt. Created so much going forward, and great tackler, just 1 mistake in the final)
CB-Marchena (No question)
CB-Chiellini (Only solid Italian)
RM-Iniesta (World Class)
LM-Podolski (Outstanding for Germany in most games)
CM-Xavi (WOW!)
CM-Deco (Quality Passing)
CF-Torres (ALWAYS a threat)
CF-Van Nistelrooy (Loved his style)
SUBS-Schweinsteiger, Sergio Ramos, Arshavin, Villa, Ballack, Buffon
WORST 11
GK-Nikopolidis (Lehmann close 2nd)
RB-Sabri (Found him awful)
LB-Jansen (Expected SO much more)
CB-Mertesacker (Lucky so much of the time)
CB-Pogatetz (Looked useless)
RM-Simao (No threat)
LM-Malouda (No suprise there)
CM-Petit (Pretty useless)
CM-Nasri (Next Zidane?????HOW?)
CF-Toni (Great first touch but lacked the killer insinct he usually shows)
CF-Anelka (Embarassment)
SUBS-Lehmann, Barzagli, Zambrotta, Ambrosini, Gomez, Charisteas, Ljungberg
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Villa has been overrated, and if but for about 40 minutes of one game against a poor (at that time) russia side he had a fairly anonymous tournament.
Iniesta also, performed well but at times well below his form for Barca, and is capable of so much more.
The dutch side and russian sides impressed me most, with Zhirkov an uncovered gem of a player
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Buffon
Ramos Marchena Pepe Zhirkov
Schwansteiger Senna Fabregas Sneijder
Villa Pavlyuchenko
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I think the follwing players have had a good tournament:
Keepers: Casillas, Buffon, Boruc
Defenders: Sergio Ramos, Zhirzov, Zambrotta, Puyol, Chiellini, Pranjic, Bosingwa, Van Bronckhorst
Midfielders: Ballack, Schwiensteiger, Altintop, Silva, Senna, Xavi, Modric, Srna, Deco, Snejder, Turan
Strikers: Arshavin, Pavlyuchenko, Villa, Podolski, Nihat
I think the following have been the greatest disappointments:
Keepers: Lehmann, Nikopolidis, Coupet, Cech (1 mistake is all it takes!), Rustu
Defenders: Lahm, Mertesacker, Jahnsen, Barzagli, Materazzi, Abidal, Thuram, Ferreira
Midfielders: Malouda, Gattuso, Camoranesi, Petit, Ribery, Barnetta
Strikers: Toni, Gomis, Anelka, Klose, Gomes
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Casillas
Capdevila
Marchena
Oojer
Ramos
Silva
Sneijder
Fabregas
Robben
Torres
Van Nistelrooy
Only the Spanish and Dutch I know, but they were head and Shoulders above every one else.
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I think that some of the inclusions are extremely questionable. How Phillip Lahm gets a mention is beyond me. He may be able to attack but as a defender he gets paid to defend and in this tournament he showed he was inept at defending.
Secondly, Volkan. He showed glimpses of brilliance but he also showed he is a loose cannon. You dont want players in your team that are going to have moments of madness like that.
As good as Arshavin was against Holland you cannot name a player in a team of the tournament based on the performance of 1 game. Same applies to Fernando Torres.Scored the winner in the final but He spent too much time on the perifary of all the games.
I believe that the Turkish player Semih Senturk deserved an inclusion. He was full of energy and scored crucial goals.
Xavi was a far more imposing figure in the midfield than Sneijder. In my opinion he was the player of the tournament.
Also apart from the penalty shoot out neither Buffon or Casillas were called into action enough too really show their quality. Van der Sar and Artur Boruc showed they were keepers at the top of their game. Despite not progressing in the competition i believe that Artur Boruc did enough to get into this team.
My team of the tournament would be this:
Artur Boruc (Poland)
Sergio Ramos (Spain)
Giorgio Chiellini (Italy)
Carlos Marchena (Spain) (In my opinion a more influential player than Puyol)
Giovanni Van Bronckhorst (Holland)
Andres Iniesta (Spain)
Xavi (Spain)
Marcos Senna (Spain)
Arda Turan (Turkey)
David Villa (Spain)
Semih Senturk (Turkey)
Subs:
Edwin Van Der Sar (Holland)
Gianluca Zambrotta (Italy)
Cesc Fabregas (Spain)
Bastian Scheinsteiger (Germany)
Lucas Podolski (Germany)
PS. No Ronaldo. He may be "the best player in World" but he apparently cant perform on the big stage. Was it a touch of stage fright or was the past season just a flash in the pan.
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(4-1-3-1-1)
Buffon (Achieves almost impossible saves)
Lahm (Great going forward)
Zambrotta (Almost perfect defender)
Ooijer (Solid enough)
Puyol (Rarely flustered)
Senna (Defensive midfield marvel)
Korkmaz (A very wide winger with pace)
Xavi (Very good all round)
Sabri (Great moment when skinning Lahm)
Arshavin (His return gave Russia hope, now we know why)
Villa (Top Scorer for a reason)
I basically selected the Spanish team and then deleted as appropriate the players who I could afford to leave out (give the others a chance!)
Lets be honest we could all just pick the Spanish team!!
I'm struggling to understand why the criticism of Lahm is so intense? He's such a confident player on the ball with pace, how often do we see fullbacks running the length of the field and scoring? I'd like every player on the pitch to play with his attacking mentality, a pleasure to watch.
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No Schweinsteiger, Torres or Xavi unusual team...........
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Why no Ronaldo ?.. He is the best player in the world !!!! ( Unless he plays against a team with defenders!)...........It must be true... I saw it in the Sun !!
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the team of the tournament is :
Bufon
ramos pepe chielini zhirkov
sionko senna iniesta altintop
villa semih
buffon coz he saved a pen against romania and a world class save against benzema. Iker is good but he didnt have much to do
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Buffon
Ramos, Marchena Cheillini, Zhirkov
Turan, Xavi, Sneijder, Podolski
Torres, Pavulchenko (sp?)
Bench
Boruc
Anyukov
Modric
Ballack
Arshavin
Villa
Pranjic
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First of all i cannot believe Phillip Lahm has a mention on this BBC site as a contender for the top team. I mean, surely editorial consistency for one thing has been completely overlooked; BBC Sport pundits and commentators did nothing but highlight Lahm's atrocious defending...and of course you don't even need to be a football mastermind to see just how bad he really was. I honestly cannot understand how he is on this list, even as an 'others'.
Furthermore i am troubled by an absence of Puyol from a lot of people's lists. He is a great leader and is and has been consistently an absolute rock for Spain's success. I mean there is a lot of talk about the wrong people on this page. Too many people talkng about what other people are talking about and not paying any attention to any real substance. (not everyone by the way, just a lot of the comments especially referring to Arshavin as a tournament great is quite literally laughable)
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1.Buffon GK
2.Sergio Ramos RB
3.Pepe CB
4.Marchena CB
5.Lahm LB
6.Senna DM
7.Schweinsteiger RW
8.Sneijder AM
9.Podolski LW
10.Villa ST
11.Arshavin ST
Subs.
12.Casillas GK
13.Zhirkov LB
14.Xavi CM
15.Deco AM
16.Pavluychenko ST
Just Missed Out
Torres
Van der Vaart
Modric
Ballack
Nihat
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Casillas for Buffon, as good as he h=is and i think you have only put him in their becuase of his rep but Casillas was the real star keeper.
Zhirkov for van bronckhorst i dont doubt the latter had an outstanding game against Italy but based on that teh whole dutch team would be in the side, the russian showed real quality and was proved this in more than one game.
Ballack for Senna, although i think senna was a key player for spain Ballack ws the man who made Germany pull together as they are an ordinary side whos defence was poor along with their strikers (Klose Gomes/Kurany) with their only real threat coming from out wide (podloski and Schwein), without ballack germany werent much really.
Podolski for Arshavin even though he was one of the stars of the tournament arshavin went missing in the semis and a big player needs to produce it when hes asked, As for Podolski his German goal scoring record speaks for itself and considering he was playing as more attacking left to be second top scorer is pretty impressive
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The importance of being didier..has come up with an extremely good idea!..the best 11 is a bit tedias now as i see many spain players..yes they deserve to be there but it's a little repetative..lets come up with other ideas for teams such as..best boots..most exuberant..etc etc
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reporter clearly knows little about football:
"Villa was expected to play second fiddle to strike partner Fernando Torres", in fact villa has always been the 1st choice striker, illustrated when he was substituted early in every game, it was uncertain whether Torres would even start or whether Aragones would opt for a 5 man midfield.
Portugals defence was pathetic... Pepe nd co. clearly illustrated that they cant defend set pieces. Philip Lahm, while effectve going forward was at fault for 2 goals against turkey and for the torres goal in the final. Capdevilla was blatantly Spain's weaklink in the side....
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1. Buffon- saved Italian defence on many occasions
2.Sergio Ramos-played well whole way through
3.Pepe- out shone Carvalho in the heart of defence
4. Marchena- had more presence than Puyol
5.Zambrotta- unlike Lahm can defend
6. Senna- just outstanding
7. Schweinsteiger- made the difference to the Germany team
8. Fabregas- controlled all the Spanish play when he got the chance
9. Modric-was the highlight of the Croatian team
10. Villa- scored the goals for spain
11. Torres- made the space and committed the defenders for Villa to score
Subs:
Lahm
Oojier
Rozenahl
Xavi
Sneijder
Sionko
Ballack
Arshavin
Nihat
V.Nistelrooy
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Fair enough spain won it and well done, whoever won the penalty shoot out would have won the tournament and if lippi was manager and not donadoni usually a four letter swear word presedes or follows his name italy would have won it...alas spain did!!!! the formation tho I say well done for picking buffon, still worlds best but cas is number 2!!!! Chellini a great find for italy and torres just class....where is Luca toni tho???? in the trash bin I hope just where donadoni and he belongs....enjoy it spain as it dont add a star to your shirt....still 4 more before you can brag.........
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I don't know what tournament some people were watching but some of the selections here defy belief.
Andrei Arshavin played 3 games (alledgedly, because I didn't see him against Spain.)
Zhirkov at right back??
Villa up top op his own?
Philipp Lahm? Philipp "here Fernando, here's the ball, oh go on" Lahm?
Fabregas doesn't deserve a spot - he started two games, one of them with the reserves against Greece, and he was anonymous in the final.
Ramos was poor until the semi-final. Even the Spanish press thought so (I live in Spain).
Also, if Mertsacker and Metzelder were so poor, how on earth did Germany manage to get to the final??? Yes, fool who put them in his worst team, I'm looking at you.
Anyway, on with the team....
Casillas (c)
Anyukov Puyol Pepe Zhirkov
Senna Xabi
Schweinsteiger Sneijder Silva
Torres
Subs - Buffon, Marchena, Altintop, Ballack, Podolski, Pavluychenko, Villa
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Xavi, in the middle of the park, clearly, not Xabi Alonso. My bad
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Team of the tornament for me:
Volkan Demirel - pulled off quality saves although bad temprament
Ramos (awesome) , Pepe , Marchena (surprisingly better than Puyol in my opinion) , and left back Capdevila/Zhirkov.
Iniesta (amazing all the way through), Senna (marked arshavin out the semis game), Sneijder, and Arda Turan (where he came from i have no idea but v.good)
Villa ( top finisher throughout outshone torres!) and Van Nistlerooy (yet again a great finisher does his job)
no room for arshavin sorry, as when marked he has difficulty in shaking the player as demonstrated by senna .
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Cesc Fabregas averaged less than 55 minutes per game in Euro 2008, but 10 out of Spain's 12 goals happened while he was on the pitch. Why isn't he considered one of the tournaments stars? Villa is lauded since he was high scorer, yet they beat Russia just as badly when he didn't play. Similarly, Torres was seemingly forgotten as the guy whose repeated first half attacks on Russia in the first game gave Villa a lot of room to work. I must also echo everyone who pointed out that Lahm's defensive play was among the weakest of any back in the tournament.
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Ramos' natural position is right-back - at centre back he is actually a poor player.
Kinda sums up BBC's... oh nevermind.
First XI:
Goalkeeper
Casillas - Led team well and did the job when asked of him.
Defence
Ramos - Bombed up and down the wing and was solid at the back.
Zhirkov - Ditto
Puyol - Was, along with Casillas, a leader at the back.
Marchena - Was an excellent partner for Puyol.
Midfield
Schweinsteiger - Brought a spark and creativity to a lacklustre German team.
Senna - Was an excellent addition to this team (I was admittedly sceptical about his inclusion at start of tourny) and snuffed out attacking dangers such as Arshavin and Ballack.
Modric - Was excellent in his games with vision and passing and was unlucky to miss out on semi-final place. At £15mil (I think?) an absolute bargain.
Xavi - Like Modric his vision and passing was excellent and like Senna was an excellent asset to Spain.
Forwards
Torres - Scored the winner and made the space which the rest of his team worked with, to awesome effect.
Senturk - Was crucial for Turkey (although he started tourny poorly) and showed up when it mattered.
WHY?
This is team of the tournament and although the Dutch delighted in the groups, they went missing when it mattered. That is why no Holland players made my team.
On the other hand, Spain were phenomenal throughout - scored the most and conceded the least. The bulk of my team consists of Spaniards because of this.
Iniesta was very (very) poor up until semis. I know I have included players who didnt start too well but Iniesta was anonymous until semi-final.
Villa scored all but one goal in one game. Unlucky to miss the final where he possibly could have bagged one or two. Had a good tournament but Torres was better overall.
Arshavin was brilliant in two games but went missing in semis - when it mattered - no thanks to the awesome Senna.
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Oops, I forgot to mention Silva. He was brilliant but i thought I had already put too many Spaniards in my team ;)
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My euro 2008 XI
Buffon
Lahm,Pepe,Puyol,Grosso
Sneijder,Ballack,Xavi,Modric
Villa,Arshvin
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Lahm was a terrible choice, he was a poor mark-up defender and was constantly beaten on both wings. Torsten Frings was also a surprise to me as he wasn't influential to the Germans as the other three midfielders were (Ballack, Podolski, Schweinsteiger). Sergio Ramos was also a liability on defense for the Spanish; they did pull it off, but if Podolski or Schweinsteiger were committed to that left wing, they could've caused real trouble. Anyway, here's my XI:
Buffon (ugh)
Zambrotta Chiellini Simic Pranjic (!)
Senna
Schweinsteiger Fabregas Sneijder
Podolski
Villa
Bam. I wish I could put Arshavin in there because he's such a crafty devil, but he was 1-3 in Top XI performances and that won't cut it for the team. Pranjic (Croatia's left back) did potentially MORE running than Sergio Ramos (even though they're at opposite flanks) and was more reliable on defense, quality player. Marcos Senna was too good to be not included, and I am an Arsenal sucker so Fabregas beats out Xavi for the CM spot. Schweinsteiger was the most dangerous player for Germany thus his inclusion is a necessity. Wesley Sneijder was super creative and was willing to shoot from anywhere at anytime. David Villa was top scorer so his inclusion is necessary as well as Podolski for being a consistent threat to all German opponents. Simic and Chiellini were both solid and underappreciated at the back so they are included and Zambrotta was best RB in the tourney (because I dislike Sergio Ramos...). Buffon was the most clutch shotstopper in the tourney so he's included. That's my XI, whatya think?
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I thought Pranjic and corluka were fantastic for the croats
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Xavi deserves to be in the team after his tournament.
The fact that Iniesta (who is more of a central player) played out wide made him a little less effective.
Marchena was exceptional(surprisingly), especially considering the way the Valencia defence has crumbled this season.
Casillas in goal for me as he kept clean sheets right through the knockout phase of the Euros and conceded only 3 through the tournament.
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what marchena instead of puyol???
no mention for torres??
no xavi????
what sort of a joke of line up is this??
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I'm sorry, but don't any of these so-called pundits watch the games? This is the second time I have seen Lahm in or around the Team of the Tournament XI - he might well have been the worst full-back in the tournament - was destroyed against Turkey for 90 minutes and was culpable for at least one of their goals. He was also at fault for the Torres goal in the final. Just cos he scored a good goal to win the semi final does not mean he is one of the premier full-backs in the competition!
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Senna and Schneider in centre midfield ...?!
Senna was average. Schneider was good in a couple of games, but...
... how can you possibly leave out the two most consistently impressive midfielders in the whole tournament - without even a mention !?
Modric and Schweinstieger were easily the best central midfielders on show this year.
For crying out loud, Modric got Croatia as far as they did almost single handedly! The forula for their games was:
- Modric wins the ball back for Croatia
- Modric picks out a beautiful pass
- His rubbish team mate loses it
... And without Podolski and Bastian the Germans wouldn't have got out of the group stages.
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wow almost the same team i chose before i saw this lol
GK:Buffon
RB:Ramos
CB:Chellini
CB:Puyol
LB:Van Bronkhorst
RM:Snejder
CM:Senna
CM:Modric
LM:Arda Turan
CF:Villa
CF:Poldolski
3 differences
clever minds do think alike ;)
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My Team would be (apologies for spelling)
Casillas (Did everything he was asked to do)
Sergio Ramos (amazing attacking play, fantastic defence, what more can you ask?)
Chiellini (the reason Italy got so far in the tournament, simple.)
Puyol (quick and effective at the back, impressive despite his lack of height)
Zhirkov (very good defensively, good going forward.)
Sneijder (the creative force for Holland)
Senna (the best holding midfielder in the tournament and shows that every great team needs one)
Xavi (Very impressive, the only player in the tournament who could keep Fabregas on the bench)
Podolski (A constant threat, electric pace up the wing, for a player out of position he got a good return of goals)
Fabregas (controlled every game he played in as long as he was on the pitch.)
Villa (Top scorer for a reason)
in a 4-4-1-1 formation with Fabregas in behind the striker, and Podolski and Sneijder bombing down the wings in support.
I would have on the bench,
Van Der Sar (played really well not as solid as Casillas)
Lahm (Defensively Average but amazing going forward)
Van Bronckhorst (Again great attacking play, fantastic stamina, solid at the back.)
Marchena (consistantly solid)
Schweinsteiger (gave Germany an attacking threat whenever he played and consistantly crossed and passed well)
Van der Vaart (complemented Sneijder really well)
Modric (can play in the hole behind the striker too, played very well, looked lively, creative and always a threat with the ball)
Torres (linked up very well with Fabregas, and seems to work very well with attacking midfielders in the hole)
It was unfortunate France went out so early, since Nasri looked good when he came on, and we saw almost nothing of Benzema, but it was inevitable really, with none of Frances big players turning up, Anelka, Malouda and Ribery being the main culprits, and no Clichy?
I was not as impressed with Iniesta as everyone else seems to be. He messed up as often as he did well, he refused to shoot most of the time, and was only average at best.
Overall seemed a really disappointing tournament for strikers, with only a handful stepping up to the mark. Klose and Toni in particular were truly awful especially considering the amount of time they got on the pitch.
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The Romanian GK Labont was in fine form during the group matches - made several saves against both Italy and Dutch
Couple of Turkey players - Semih Senturk and Nihat too turned in good performances - deserve to be on the backup atleast.
Arashavin was very disappointing in the semis. So was Ballack in the finals - committed most fouls, argued with officials and could not inspire his team.
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My team would have been
------------Casilas---------------
Ramos-Puloyl-Pepe-Lahm
Iniesta-Fabregas-Xavi-Podolski
---------Silva-Torres----------
Bench
1. Buffon
2. Van Brockhurst
3. Snijder
4. Van Der Varrt
5. Arshvin
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Can't belive Boruc didn't get a mention, he kept Poland in it for all their games and with that defence they needed a good keeper.
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tbh I don't think Xavi deserves a place in a select XI - thought he was invisible in a few of the games. Senna was much better. I'd go for:
Buffon/Boruc
Ramos---Kovac---Marchena---Zhirkov
Schweinsteiger---Sneijder/Deco---Senna---Arda
Villa---Podolski/Arshavin
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Also how about a worst XI:
Nikopilidis
Ferreira---Thuram---Jop---Janssen
Harnik---Wilhelmsson---Malouda
Toni---Gomez---Charisteas
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Artur Boruc was the best keeper at this tournament - no other keeper made so many exceptional saves. Moreover, the number of isolated 1 on 1 saves Boruc made was incredible! Boruc also didn't have any protection from his inept defence unlike Casillas or Buffon.
Are exceptional performances from the group stage simply overlooked?
Boruc showed why he is without doubt the next great keeper in world football !
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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
With a fear of sounding like Catherine Tate's Nan, I have to say that I thought Ramos was a liability in the majority of Spain's games.
He gave away possession far too much and was often beaten to the line.
That said, he played well in the final, especially given that Germany were looking to exploit him by attacking down that side.
I thought Senna was brilliant for Spain - an absolute rock... possibly my player of the tournament.
Buffon was class in goal. Puyol was MASSIVE in defence, Deco was sheer class in midfield and Villa was the man up front.
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so xavi hrnandez wins player of the tournament yet he dosnt get a look-in
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My team would be
Boruc
Zambrotta - Chiellini - Marchena - Lahm
Schweinsteiger - Sniejder - Deco - Arshavin
Nihat - Villa
Arshavin (even though he was lazy against spain! he was amazing v Holland.) Would have been player of the tournament had it not been for the spain game.
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cassilas
ramos chiellinni puyol van bronkhorst
iniesta fabregas xavi modric
villa arshavin
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Boruc
Boulahrouz Puyol Marchena Zhirkhov
Senna
Xavi Sneijder Turan
Villa Pavlyuchenko
Funniest mention goes to Zambrotta, did you not watch the Romania game?
People who mention Iniesta, are the ones that didn't know already that he was the best passer in the world (he actually played below his best during this tournament)
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SOUNDS ABOUT RIGHT BUT I WOULD CHANGE VAN BRONK FOR ZHIRKOV,
MARCHENA FOR PUYOL,
AND TURAN FOR BALLACK.
BUFFON,
RAMOS PUYOL CHIELLINI ZHIRKOV
SNIEDJER BALLACK SENNA INIESTA
ARSHAVIN
VILLA
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My team:
01 Casillas
15 Sergio Ramos, 05 Puyol, 04 Marchena
05 Van Bronckhorst
21 Silva, 19 Senna, 10 Fabregas, 08 Xavi
09 Torres, 07 Villa
Oh, I just realised this is the Spain team, with the only expection of Van Bronckhorst!!
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Van de Sar
Prajnic
Marchena
Chiellini
Ramos
Rakitic
Senna
Xavi
Inniesta
Villa
Podolski
Honourable mention:
Casillas, Kalodin, Fabregas, Shweinsteiger, Sniejder, Srna, Nihat, Arsharvin, Yakin
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ALL THIS TALK OF XAVI.
DIDN'T LEICESTER REJECT ZAGORAKIS WIN IT 2004 WHEN IT SHOULD HAVE CLEARLY GONE TO DELLAS OR MANICHE?
I AM A BARCA FAN BUT FABREGAS AND INIESTA WERE MUCH MORE EFFECTIVE THAN XAVI.
THE PEOPLE WHO MAKE THESE DECISIONS HAVEN'T GOT A CLUE AND I DON'T PAY MUCH ATTENTION TO THEIR NOMINATION ANYWAY, AND NEITHER SHOULD YOU.
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no mention by anyone of panucci, right back AND centre half, scored a good goal, brilliant against spain and france better than chiellini
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I think it's quite ironic that xavi was replaced by fabregas so he could do better than xavi did but still ended up player of the tournament. I think the when cesc was subbed it paved the way for xavi to win even though senna was the best player.
Casillas
Ramos Marchena Simunic Zhirkov
Fabregas Deco Senna Sneijder
Villa Pavlyuchenko
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Right,
Buffon - best in the world - still
Zhirkov - (great getting forward and surprisingly good defensively)
Chiellini - (kept Torres, Villa et al at bay)
Tamas - (stood out in the group of death)
Ramos - (consistently solid)
Senna - (the base for all Spanish attacks)
Iniesta - (for obvious reasons)
Rajkitic/Modric - (Ok, slight cop-out but couldn't choose between these two Croats)
Arda - (electric and effective)
Pavlyuchenko - (work rate and talent)
Arshavin - (alright, so there's no Villa but i loved it when these two combined together)
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Ivan Rakitic ahead of Modric how..especially when Luka was MOM in 2 out of the 4 games and scored in the other game????
As for Xavi who won player of the tournment wow, but that is the joy of football even if some peoples choices dont make a whole lot sense.
Not sure if it was a well thought out article but thanks for causing debate ; )
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all these guys saying the worst team, how is Petric not on the list at least as a sub... I support Croatia but even i cannot defend his awful performances during the tournament! i don't think one shot was on target!
Also, Pletikosa was as solid a keeper as you'd ever see - only conceded 2 unstoppable goals (oh, and the penalties.. boo hoo)
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no mention for van der sar, modric, podolski or schweinsteiger? i thought they all helped make the tournament alot more interesting. oh and deco, the only attacking portugal player to look genuinely world class in my view.
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This would be my team:
Casillas
Altintop
Chiellini
Goian
Lahm
Sneijder
Senna
Xavi
Iniesta
Modric
Villa
On the bench:
Buffon, Marchena, Ballack, Pavlyuchenko, Nihat
Sergio Ramos played well in the Semi and the Final but was Spains weak link in the rest of the tournament.
Van Bronckhorst played well against Italy but one good game isnt enough.
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The most disappointing XI:
Cech
Ramos
Mertesacker
Abidal
Ronaldo
Toulalan
Karagounis
Plasil
Gomez
Toni
Gekas
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As to L a h m :
Satisfied that he was (positively) included by some, who had obviously not forgotten his performance in the first few matches,
even though he had to accept new positionings.
True, he made a gross mistake against Turkey but made up for it by scoring the decisive goal almost immediately after wards.True, he was not his true self against Spain. But this was SPAIN ! And together with Lehmann (mutual misunderstanding) he was responsible for Torres'goal. (Spain would have won anyway.)
And he was substituted for the second half due to a foot injury (open wound that had to be stitched).
Otherwise I am sure he would have torn himself apart to make amends.
He has a great character (also off the pitch)
and should not be condemned for the fact that this was not to be his tournament. Very great player most of the time - even elected into the all star team in EURO '04 even though his team was horrible.
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Casillas
Ramos Puyol Kolodhin Zhirkov
Silva Frings Modric Iniesta
Nihat
Torres
1. Iniesta the player of the tournament for me.
2. Torres was tireless throughout and showed his class when it really mattered.
3. Nihat was Turkey's inspiration on the pitch. They may have made the final if he had been fit. Arshavin let himself down when it mattered; I don't buy the hype about Villa - take away his opening game hat-trick and his tournament doesn't look so great and he was pretty ineffectual in the knockout stages (the part he played).
4. I went for Frings and Modric over Senna and Xavi because Germany were a totally different team with Frings (allowed Ballack to play) and Modric is a class act and one of the finds of the tournament.
5. The defence and keeper is fairly clear cut, the only question was who to partner Puyol. I went for Koldhin because Russia missed him against Spain and he was exciting at any free kick within 30 yards of goal.
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Artur Boruc doesn't even get a mention????
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How about a team of individuals who shouldn't even have been representing the countrys whose shirts they were sporting?
Miroslav Klose
Lukas Podolski
Colin Kazim-Richards
Roger Guerreiro
Deco
Eldin Jakupovic
Kevin Kuranyi
Patrick Vieira
Mauro Cameronesi
Hmmmm, they'll have to play with 9 men, and without a goalie!!
;-)
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As i have already made a best team i thought i should make a team of underachievers.
Petr Cech (Not his usual assured self in net)
Phillip Lahm (Showed complete ineptitude in defence)
Per Mertesacker (Not as solid as you would expect from a German defender)
Emanual Pogatetz (Looked out of his depth, deserved to be sent off in the first game)Eric Abidal (Extremely poor all tournament and got himself sent off)
Mauro Camoranesi (Useless in every game, did nothing but score his penalty)
Jeremie Toulalan (Another player who looked out of his depth at this level)
Johan Elmander (What on earth have Bolton just done signing him)
Florent Malouda (Can someone please remind me why Chelsea signed him)
Luca Toni (Couldnt hit a barn door)
Nicolas Anelka (France may as well have played with 10 men)
Subs (Only marginally better)
Jens Lehmann (Germany)
Gregory Coupet (France)
Jansen (Germany)
Paulo Ferreira (Portugal)
Petit (Portugal)
Simao (Portugal)
Franck Ribery (France)
Barnetta (Switzerland)
Antonio Di Natale (Italy)
Gomez (Germany)
Gomes (France)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
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Casillas
Sergio Ramos - Chiellini - Puyol - Zhurkov
Senna
Xavi Altintop
Sneijder Arshavin
Villa
Notable mentions for: Anyukov, Simunic, Modric, Arda, Torres, Pavluyochenko, Deco, Iniesta, Fabregas, and Ballack
Casillas gets the nod for the pressure he took off what would have been a very suspect defence for dealing with crosses
Zhurkov was terrific, and far eclipsed Van Bronckhorst, his boundless energy, attacking ability and defensive solidarity was brillent
Sergio Ramos was the most physically impressive player in the whole tournament, pace strength and no little skill masked his frequent definsive naievaties
Puyol overcame his countless defensive frailties to lead with a dogged determination from the back, impressive with Ramos in the Italian game
Chiellini earns inclusion for his display against the Spanish alone, a defensive masterclass by the heir to Cannavaro's daunting throne
Senna was the foundation on which the whole spanish effort was built. Not your typical Brazilian but not lacking in skill and finesse either. Completely nullified Arshavin in the semi, paving the way for an overwhelming Spanish display
Xavi was the key player in the final bossing the play with an incisive array of long and short passes. Effortless grace on the ball made him the brightest light in a sparkling spanish midfield
Altintop was easily Turkeys best player, and perhaps their only player who excelled even when Turkey laboured early against the Swiss and Czechs and against the Croats
Sneijder was the star of the group stage and although he couldn't propel the Oranje to greater heights, fans will not forget his all action goalscoring displays in humbling both the world cup finalists
Arshavin lit up the tournament on his arrival with the seemless ability to do what no one else seamed capable, gliding past opponents at will and providing beautiful passes and goals. Destroyed the Dutch and Sweedes before being snared by the imperious Senna against Spain.
Villa, the semis and final were conspicuous by his absence, yet he retains his place due to Torres et al's failure to REALLY come to the party. Scored four excellent goals via a devastating combination of movement pace intelligence and finishing, and only a masterclass by Chielini served to deny him adding to his tally in the knockout stages.
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Ramos is a poor selection.he played well in the final but in the goup stages he put in 2 terrible performances, giving the ball away countless times and being at fault for the Swedish goal. You are right that he run a lot, but that doesnt mean he played excellently
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How did Ramos make it onto the team of the tournament?? Yes he was all action and full of energy but his inexperience was painful as he was often caught out of position. He's Spain's answer to Paul McShane
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NO ARTUR BORUC ?
SORRY BUT WASN'T HE THE TOP RATED GOALKEEPER GOING BY PLAYER RATINGS ?
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Casillas, Puyol, Sergio Ramos, Senna, Silva, Schneider, Deco, Tuncay, Van Niss, Torres, Blissett
Hang up the boots time for:
Henry (great own goal, in the Blue Square they shout 'face up' as a free kick is taken)
Fabregas (5 good touches, very high missed pass rate, 1 tackle every 2 matches, was he awol or what in the final?, a real subuteo player)
Koller (great goal then disgraceful dive against the CZs, should have been remembered for the former but instead it'll be the latter, it was his choice!)
Ballack (all that's bad in the top modern footballer)
Ronaldo (get ADHD treatment then come back)
Blissett (maybe one more tournament)
France and Italy (jammy previous tourny winners - Spain first team to truly dominate and show style for years)
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casillas- great saves, obviously a useful captain too
altintop- great energy. good in both attack and defence
ramos- awesome, best young defender in the world
marchena- unsung rock
zhirkov- aktinntop but on the left
senna- let the other players around him play
xavi- awesome
iniesta- awesome
sneijder- great goals, unlucky that holland crashed out
villa- top scorer, can't argue with 4 very tidy finishes
podolski- scored 3 and played out of position for the team
silva, modric, simunic, tuncay, buffon, van nistelrooy, van bronckhorst, ballack... all unlucky not to be selected!
a few players i don't understand the hype about...
lahm- a defender, he should learn to do it or play as a winger
arshavin- sure good but only 1 good game, disappeared against a good spain team
fabregas- one good game, just cos he has a higher profile in england unlike xavi and iniesta, this is not a reason for ignorance. these guys are worls class, fab is not quite there yet.
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Boruc/Casillas
S.Ramos - Marchena - Chiellini - Zhirkov
Snejider - Senna - Xavi - Silva
Villa - Arshavin
It's almost the whole Spain's squad, but it's obvious, isn't it. I'm sorry for Boruc. If Poland played better he would have had more chances to shine. It could have been his tournament.
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iniesta!!
hes got no left foot man! show him onto his left and hes useless
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That midfield is so wrong, judge players on their performance in the competition, not on overall.
Xavi
Sneijder
Ballack (reluctant to admit)
Arshavin (who for some reason you have listed as an attacker)
Others: Modric, Senna
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And other "reluctant to admit", but played well, were Fibreglass the Spaniard and PigRider the Kraut.
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so room for ooijer??
i thought he was great!
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LOADS will disagree with me
GK- Iker Casillias (Captain)
DR-Sergio Ramos
DC-Pepe
DC-Carlos Puyol
DL-Yuri Zyerkiov
DMC-Marcos Senna
MR-Wesley Sneijder
ML-Andreas Iniesta
MC-Cesc Fabregas
FC-Fernando Torres
FC-Nihat
Subs
Boruc, Volkan, Pepe, Capedevilla, Altintop, Marchena, Ballack, Xavi, Robben,Van Persie, Villa, Arshavin, Pavluchenko
Manager: Guus Hiddink
Overachivers- Russia and Turkey
Underachivers- France and Germany (did not deserve to be in the final)
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I'm delighted to see so many of your personal 'team of the tournament' XIs. Good reading and debating among you guys and gals.
The Lahm inclusion by the BBC team, even as an honourable mention, is still arousing a lot of debate. Interesting.
All depends what you want from your full-back. I think the teams that proved successful at the Euros had great attacking full-backs, think Capdevila, Zhirkov, Van Bronckhorst and Lahm.
Lahm helped Germany to third spot at the last World Cup and the runners-up spot at Euro 2008, so he's not the worst player to have in the team.
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Not a bad team but it should go something like...
GK-Casillas (Best keeper in the world- despite what biased Chelski fans like to think)
LB- Zhirkov
CB- Chielleni- Italys only good player this tournament?
CB- Pepe
RB- Freidrich- Played little but when there one of the best in the world in the position.
LM - David Silva- An unsung hero
CM- Senna
CM- Sneijder
RM- Schweinsteiger- His favourite and best position- Beeb commentator said in the first match he doesnt see whats the fuss, this tournament he showed what.
CF- Senturk- Super-Sub!!!
CF- Villa
And although no-ones yet to say the best manager, its gotta be Fatih Terim, just over Hiddink, who both did amazing jobs with limited sides in terms of overall ability.
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spoonsandbiscuits - regarding my favourite coach of the tournament..that accolade has to go to Fatih Terim. He sweated buckets on the touchline and got his team to perform heroics.
He also reminded me of someone who would own a tapas bar in Gran Canaria and would give you a discount when you're about to settle the bill. Comforting.
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I would say:
Casillas
Ramos Marchena Pepe
Senna
Xavi Iniesta Arda
Arshavin
Torres Villa
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Good call on chiellini. Anyone who doesnt have him in their team didnt see Italy play. He was phenomenal in the tournament with an italian team that were really struggling. I would have loved to see him play with Cannavaro cos Italy would have been a major force then. Although they would have still probably lost on penalties because they looked toothless in attack.
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Notice how no one's talking about "the best player in the world?" All the pundits and commentators seemed to agree that Ronnie was the greatest thing since sliced bread a few months ago, now there's not a mention of him. Oh how wrong they were.
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Not my team, just some comments...
Ballack must make the first team, Germany got through that group in part due to Ballack who also clocked up the most extreme milage in the group stages.
Senna played well and recovered loose balls but Xavi, Silva, Iniesta and Fabregas also recovered loose balls, tracked runners, and got forward and Xavi provided a goal and assist in the semi and the final respectively. Senna was by no means the player of the tournament or the Spain team, O'Neil might be a good manager but his punditry is summed up by him tipping the French to win it. A team that scored one single goal.
Villa top scorer and was often seen closing down defenders and even tracked Grosso all the way back during the Italy game when he sensed danger - what a player.
Grosso was the best left back at the tournament slightly ahead of Zhirkov, his tackling, positioning, energy and the quality of his dangerous delivery was superb.
Altintop was more influencial than Arda, Arda has some good moments but was also quite frustrating.
Marchena simply handled everything thrown at him, I think the Spanish were the most surprised of all.
Coach of the tournament must be Fatih Terim, and he was great entertainment to watch on the touchline going ballistic every 5 minutes.
Ramos was shaky in the first game but showed his tremendous strength and pace in dealing with attackers on the deck and even dealing with 6 ft 7 Luca Toni in the air. Great delivery from out wide. Should have scored in the final after breaking free of marker. He's 21, the next Maldini?
Pepe made a few not so obvious errors regarding set peice marking against Germany which he will learn from and one day be one of the best defenders in the world.
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Hmmm, why is the top scorer of the tournament, Lukas Podolski missing? Three goals, two assist, although he was playing out of position...
And why in earth do you include Frings who had a very quiet Euro 2008...
Van der Saar is also missing...
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Why name the team in a 4-4-2 formation?
Given most of the top teams did not use this formation, why do you?
Stuck in your ways are we?
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My team of EURO '08 is:
Buffon
Bosingwa-Puyol-Pepe-Van Bronkhurst
Snejider-Xavi-Ballack-Podolski
Villa-Pavluchenko
With:
Casillas
Chiellini
Marchena
Ineista
Schwiensteiger
Torres
Arshavin
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i dont realy care about the team as such, but ronaldo is pefetic and dosent deserve to be player of the year as he has disrespected his current manager and should bugger off to spain as he if awful and i feel that it is an insult as people say he is better than henry was at his prime. but realy i wanted to say that the fiffa is a joke and i as well as my family feel that the fiffa should be renewed and made up of people who actuly know and care for the game today instead of having pefetic people who want to make this beautifal game into a wimpish sport which has no pride with such divers like we have seen in this euro tournement. such players like alan shearer and tony adams aswell as legends like david seaman, sir bobby robson, arsen wenger, mark hughes and others like that. this will make the game better and help us make the game what it should be great to watch and paly!!!!!!!!!!!.
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What on earth happened to 'The World's Greatest Player'? C.Ronaldo, anyone even see him at the tournement? was it just me or when Germany beat Portugal 3-2, Whenever Ronaldo recieved he returned to his glorious days as the new boy to the premier league by trying his tricks and forgetting there was 10 other men on his team. To be honest i think Manchester Utd should sell while he's hot, becuase this tournement has done nothing to enhance his reputation and i don't think it will be a great loss to the premier league with the likes of Torres and others still able to bring some class back to english football. Another thing i noticed in this tournement was the amount of diving was unbelievable! and European refs were supposed to crack down on it. Again, Ronaldo was a culprit along with pretty much every other Portuguese player. What football needs a kick up the rear end to make this game more physical once again, rather than the clip of the heels causing a player to triple summersualt in the air before rolling 20yrds. bring back some of the good old day tackling from the 70's.
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ronaldo is crap! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1awful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!dreadful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!diver!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1fabregas is better!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!love it!!!!!!!!
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my taem of the tournement would have to be holland all over they played brilliant football and such a great amount of team work was involved in this. the one addition for this team for me would have to be Fabregas, im not being buyerst for arsenal but fabregas is a superb and talented player and unlike ronaldo he dosent have much greed and knows how to pick out players with unbelievable forsight which i havent seen since the days of dennis bergkamp.!!!!!!!
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my team of the tournament would be:
Buffon
Anyukov Zambrotta
Chiellini Servet
Senna or Mehmet Aurelio
Iniesta Arda
Xavi
Villa Torres
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Sorry but Ballack has to be on the list...
He single handedly got the Germans to the final.
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I can't believe so many people are mentioning Fabregas as being part of the team of the tournament.
He did nothing in the final and in earlier games when he came on as sub, he did nothing much there either.
( despite Motson's ridiculous comment in an earlier game that Fabregas was controlling the match because he was taking all the corners.)
What about the Germans.
Not only did they make it all the way to the final but they had most of the game in the final.
They attacked regularly while Spain depended on sporadic breakaways.
Their players must have been doing something right.
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Fabregas was fantastic in the tournament and he controlled the Russia vs Spain match before that they could not break the defense of Russia which tells you a lot Ronaldo was poor and never lived up to the hype surrounding him and his country he was dreadful and Fabregas defiantly deserves a mention before he came on Spain had no emphasis going foward vs Russia. I also thought that that Arshavin Ran out of steam after the match vs Holland and was poor vs Spain. And another player who worked well when most people thought he'd warm the German bench was Podolski without his goals i don't know where Germany would have got them from he also assisted shwinsteger (sp) in both matches between Portugal and Turkey.
This Would be my team of the tournament
Casillas
Ramos Puyol Servet Pranjic
Snejider Senna Fabregas Arda
Villa Podolski
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My team of the tournament:
Van Der Sar
Ramos, Oojier, Pepe, Van Bronckhorst
Sneijder, Senna, Xavi, Arda
Villa, Torres
Subs:
Casillas
Zhirkov
Cheillini
Schwiensteiger
Ballack
Nihat
Van Persie (although he didn't play as much as he should have)
Most of my first team consists of Dutch and Spanish players but, in my opinion, they were the only teams that stood out in the tournament.
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Such disrespect. What does Xavi have to do for everyone to realize he was the best attacking midfielder in the tournament, bar none , Xavi was head and shoulders above all th attacking mids you all mentioned.
I personally think Marco Senna was the best player of the tournament because he enabled Spain to play the best football by his holding mid prowess, his workrate, great footballing judgment, and his lack of mistakes.
David Silva and Hamit Altintop are also being passed over - they had immense tournaments.
Other than Lucas Podolski, no German has to be included at all.
Edwin Van Der Sar had a better tournament in goal than Buffon frankly (I agree Buffon is the best goalie in the world). Italy is defensive so Buffon gets protection. Casillas is better because Spain's back line is suspect.
Lahm does not deserve any spot in first 11 or subs. Arshavin was great and one of the most skillful but I think he is sub at best.
The attacking starters have to be Villa and Torres (with Arshavin and Pavlyuchenko as subs).
Spain has to be the team of the Tournament (they beat everyone and played the best football). The runner up is Turkey by a mile (the never give up attitude is a lesson to all. In fact, who knows if their 8 starters had been available against Germany, I think it would have been a Turkey v. Spain final).
Germany was the dullest of the big boys team in the tournament. The Dutch were the biggest chokers. The Turkey coach was the best coach (he made the best out of a bad situation). The Croatian coach was the unluckiest (great coach, team let him down in the last minute). Kudos to UEFA, Platini, the 16 football organizations, Austria and Switzerland for putting forth a great show.
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What no zhirkov? Just for starters that's wrong. Torres lost marks in my eyes for the manner in which he was substituted. Very surly attitude, doesn't help the sub coming on and clearly doesn't stop it happening.
If the overall team could reflect the never say die attitude of the Turks, something missing in abundance from England for nearly seven years, I'd be happier.
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why would simply doing your job put you in the team of the tournament?
if all you have to do was play the holding midfield role well and not score or get any assists to be player of he tournament then I think I can see where people are going wrong with negative football.
Thankfully UEFA are more enlightened and realised Xavi's huge influence. I think I will avoid these discussions from now on forever - most of you are a bit "special".
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While I would have picked a different team I can't argue with the justifications given for all bar one place.
Arshavin. Yes he is a good player, he had two great games, but he also missed two games and was very poor in a fifth. For me team of the tournament means a player performing in each of his teams games.
For thatr eason I wouldn't have picked him, that would also have allowed me to change formation and put Xavi in there intead. Move Sneijder and Xavi slightly further forward to play off Villa and you have a much better team.
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1 casilas
2 ramos
3 van bronckhorst
4 pepe
5 marchena
6 senna
7 sneijder
8 fabrigas
9 villa
10podolski
11 inniesta
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I'd go for:
Casillas
Ramos, Chiellini, Puyol, Lahm
Senna
Iniesta, Xavi, Silva,
Arshavin, Villa
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Philipp Lahm? Seriously Philipp Lahm?
The same Philipp Lahm who couldn't defend if his life depended on it. being good going forward is a nice bonus for a full back, but they still have to defend. Scored a great goal against Turkey but was mostly responsible for both of Turkey's goals in the 1st place.
"Villa was expected to play second fiddle to strike partner Fernando Torres .."
Who was expecting that? Torres is a great player but his Euro 2008 was pretty average, missed a lot of chances and was taken off in almost every game for a reason. Brilliant goal to win the tournament, and Expect he'll be after the golden boot in the PL this year, but don't let's judg his euro 2008 performance with rose tinted specs because he was so brilliant in the PL last season.
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I was surprisingly impressed with Lobont. Thought Boruc was fantastic, but didn't play enough to get into a tournament team. Although Buffon was good, I thought Casillas was superb - excellent covering his box and distributing the ball and did everything you could ask for stopping shots.
I don't agree with the Lahm bashing. His attack play was great and his defense was very good up until the semis. Certainly wouldn't go for Bosingwa as a replacement, whose defending was awful throughout. Boulahrouz and Anyukov put up a good show, but Ramos was the outstanding performer from back to front.
Zhirkov, Van Bronckhorst and occasionally Grosso were brilliant across the whole left flank. Giovanni was the best all-round per game, but Zhirkov gets the points for longevity.
I thought Ooijer, Simunic, Marchena, Puyol and Pepe looked were great centre halves. Didn't really notice Chiellini. Apologies if he was as good as most seem to think. Puyol gets a place for his work rate and Marchena for his on the ball composure. Can't help thinking a German defender in the Spanish team would have ruined their tournament.
Iniesta was wonderful. He was an important part of a possession driven team. Schweinsteiger's effort and goal-scoring was great, but tended to disappear from games occasionally. I actually thought Srna was brilliant for Croatia. His drive was awesome, he ran and crossed well and his set pieces were usually dangerous. Unfortunately, I just can't see past Iniesta's remarkable intelligence and ability.
Left wing is a close call. Podolski, Silva, Arda and Sneijder all brought a lot to the party. I would go for Sneijder who looked a class apart in quality during the group phase.
There were a lot of good central midfield displays. Frings, De Jong, Mehmet Aurelio and Semak were solid holding players. Modric held Croatia together without much assistance. Fabregas was a spark and a half from the bench. Pirlo, Deco and Van Der Vaart were magnificent before exiting and Ballack was brilliant at commanding the German midfield. That said, Xavi and Senna were truly awesome and were, together, the clear players of the tournament in my mind, so no one else has any right to play in their position.
Up front: Arshavin - obviously a wonderful player, but 2 excellent games and 1 awful game shouldn't get a player awards. Pavlyuchenko, Semih and Nihat stood out with goals, but lacked consistency. Van Nistelrooy bossed the group stage and Olic deserves a mention for his work rate alone, but no one offered the consistent movement, goals and on-the-ball ability that Villa and Torres threatened with from start to finish.
Unfortunately, that analysis makes me and my final team fairly boring.
Casillas
Ramos, Puyol, Marchena, Zhirkov
Iniesta, Senna, Xavi, Sneijder,
Torres, Villa
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I would have had
Buffon
Ramos - Puyol - Pepe - Zhirkov
Iniesta - Senna - Xavi - Arda Turan
Villa - Pavluchenko
Arshavin will be shown up if he signs for chelsea
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My wonderous team of the tournament:
Van Der Sar
Ramos Kolodin Pepe Van bronckorst
Fabregas Senna Deco
Torres Koller Robben
Why?
well: vandersar - consistent: made no mistakes. Brill save set up a goal against italy.
van bronckorst - counter attacks, energy
Ramos - most solid right back (anyukov was rubbish)
Pepe - commanding, attacking threat
Fabregas - sublime passes set up about half of spains goals when only on the pitch for 20 mins at a time
Senna - makelele but not too old
Deco - Arguably player of tournament with his tricky little skills
Torres - deserved more goals than villa, championship winning goal, spent half his time in right wing channel anyway
Robben - dribbling this way and that, look at him the crazy little footballer, changed game each time he came on
Koller - This is gonna take a lot of explaining: It is called "team of the tournament." Not list of best players. In my opinion, Koller would benefit other attackers in the team like Robben, deco, fabregas, and, primarily torres cos of his layoffs and knockdowns. Therefore, in a "team" of the tournament he would be much more beneficial than say David villa - he may have scored 4 goals, but alongside Koller, torres could have scored twice that. Also he nearly signed for Birmingham.
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I forgot Kolodin - He can shoot really hard
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The team looks allright but i would prefer to see at least 3 germans. These should be Ballack, Schweinsteiger and Podolski.
But this is my XI of the Euro's:
CASILLAS
RAMOS PEPE v.BRONKHORST
XAVI
SCHWEINSTEIGER SNEIJDER
BALLACK
ARSHAVIN TORRES PODOLSKI
MANAGER: JOACHIM LOW
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Pretty good team but I'd definitely have Lahm in there instead Van Bronckhorst and should have Podolski in there somewhere.
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wow wot a pile pf, crap, do you even watch football??
im turkish and i dont think Nihat should be there, Altintop should, every single BBC commentator missed this player yet he was on Euro 2008's best official team, mayby a mention of Servet in defense to.
as for the mid where the hell is xavi???
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Still can't see why no one's mentioned Robert Kovac. He was rock-solid in defence for a team that only conceded 2 in their 4 matches, and deserves praise for making Simunic look reliable.
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I'm surprised people don't just post teams with all british based players in!!!! Seems everyone in britain is as biased as the commentators seemed to be. Motson seemed to say every Turkish player was Kazim-Richards and him and lawrenson seemed to forget that, for spain's second in the semis, Iniesta needed to play the ball (insquisitively) to Fabregas and Silva needed to finish it!!!!!
How people have Fabregas and Torres in their teams of the championships is beyond me!!!!! Fabregas barely played, limited to camio appearances from the bench, although i do admit he played very well most of the time he did. As for Fernando Torres, after winning the well known award for 'most goals scored by player who has 2 r's in his name in the first season' award, or whatever it was! He now gets in to team of the tournament after scoring a huge 2 goals. Bear in mind he was subbed in every game he started, and this total was equalled by the player who usually came on to replace him, guiza, who played a lot less minutes and looked a lot more dangerous.
These 2 players do not get into spains' top 5/6 players so team of the tornament is a bit OTT!
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Well, after looking at the various views, I?ve decided to change my team, and also explain why I have picked these players. Here it goes:
Formation: 4-4-2
GK: Buffon (Italy) : Proved to me why he has been one of the best goalkeepers for some time. Good instinct save from Mutu kept Italy in it, and proved what makes any goalkeeper great, being able to concentrate and save shots, even when you team is in the ascendancy.
RB: Ramos (Spain) : Tbh, I didn?t know what all the fuss was about with Ramos, He had a very mediocre start, but began to improve and showed good defensive and attacking qualities.
CB: Simunic (Croatia) : Was a solid backbone for a talented Croatian side. Put in a good performance against Turkey, keeping the likes of Arda and Nihat at bay. Good all-round player.
CB: Servet (Turkey) : This may cause some surprises, but I feel that Servet does deserve a mention even though Chileni was close to inclusion. Servet had a lot of doubters early in his career, but showed his commitment for Turkey. He may be forgiven after the Swiss match because of the conditions, but against Czech?s he showed the fighting qualities of Turkey. He was given the run around by Koller but gave it his all, even coming close 2 scoring. Also, he had carried 2 injuries in the latter
part of that match, but carried on anyway.
LB: Pranjic (Croatia) : Solid defensively compared to others e.g. Lahm, and also proved that he is an attacking gem.
RM: Schwingster (Germany) : Again, I didn?t no what made this player so highly rated. He did have a quiet tourney 2 begin, but proved a point after the ridiculous sending off he imposed on himself. Was more influential then Ballack in the knockout stages and performed well
.
CM: Hamit Altintop (Turkey) : One of the most underrated players of Euro 2008. Hamit was a constant driving force for Turkey. He contributed 3 assists, and also led the force attacking and defensively against the Germans. Was a hardworking and intelligent player, and with Tuncay next to him in midfield, it was one of the best midfield combos of the tourney.
CM: Fabregas (Spain) : Impact player, created chances, superb passing, what more can u say!
LM: Arda (Turkey) : A young and talented individual with an eye for goal. Miles better then that overrated brat Silva! Arda came into the Turkish first XI at a key time when it was all or nothing. Arda produced just flashes of his talent in the quarter final, but that was a credit to the Croatian defence. Against the Czech?s and the Swiss, he was a superb played in the playmaker role, constantly switching flanks to provide crosses and assists. One of the best players if not the best of Euro 2008.
CF: Semih (Turkey) : Critical goals when needed, great goals against the Swiss and Croatian, great little player.
CF: Podolski (Germany) : Even though he didn?t play CF in the euros, he was a great player constantly producing the goods for his country.
Subs:
GK: Boruc (Poland) : Made some great saves, kept his team in it more then once, just a shame the outfield players never lived up to their promise.
RB: Sabri (Turkey) : Not the best defensively, but made positive impacts against the Czechs and Germans.
LB: Van Bronkhorst (Holland) : Loads of energy for the ageing wingback, which could be seen in the Italian match.
CM: Modric (Croatia) : Talented midfielder, just missed out because his team fell at the quarter final stage, but for sure an up and coming legend.
CF: Nihat (Turkey) : The Czech game was where Nihat made a real impression. His endeavour, assists and goals were key for Turkey. Him and Semih were one of the best strike forces statistically in the Euros.
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On the whole i agree...but what about Podolski...I thought he showed real quality for Germany!
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Where is Edwin van der Sar?? He was easily the best keeper at the tournament!! Just because Buffon saved one penalty he's supposedly a star of the tournament??? He was Italy's best player, yes, but no where near one of the best keepers. Turkey, Holland, Spain and Russia all have better keepers. At least Lehmann's not in there anyway.
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For everyones worst teams has everyone forgot about how bad the Polish defence was, if it wasn't for the brillance of Boruc they would have had many more goals then they did.
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For everyones worst teams has everyone forgot about how bad the Polish defence was, if it wasn't for the brillance of Boruc they would have had many more goals into them then they did.
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I'm sorry, Phillip Lahm was on the outskirts of your team of the tournament? Which tournament were you watching exactly? Baffling to say the least.
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Difficult one this.
Center mid has got to be the toughest shout but I'd have to go for...
4-4-2
GK: Casillas
RB: Ramos
CB: Puyol
CB: Chiellini
LB: Zhirkov
RM: Sniejder
DM: Senna
CM: Ballack
LM: Silva
CF: Villa
CF: Torres
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thank you for removing my post which had the temerity to suggest that a german player should be in the team.i merely assumed as the team that reached the final and had most of the possesion scored the best set piece and probably the best goals in free play that they might merit inclusion.
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Can't quite see how Fabregas wouldn't be in anyone's team of the tournament. Ok, he didn't start many matches, but was a massive influence whenever he came on. Much more of an attacking threat than Xavi or Iniesta, who I realise both had moments of brilliance, but for me both get stuck in the trap of playing very nice, paitient one-touch football without ever really going anywhere. In the majority of Spain's games it took the introduction of Cesc to really give them direction.
I'd like to point out, I am in no way an Arsenal supporter, this is simply the way I saw it.
Player of the tournament has got to be Sneijder. Absolutely brilliant, especially in te group stages. Pace, vision, two good feet, great range of passing and an eye for goal. What a player!
Also, everyone will probably slate me for saying this, but I think it's been a fairly poor tournament for strikers. Top scorer Villa scored the majority of his goals in the opening game against a dissapointing Russia. Torres had moments, like his goal in the final where he showed his real talent. Arshavin was another who had two excellent games, but then a complete shocker.
Pavlyuchenko scored 3?, but missed about 20 really, REALLY good chances. Gomez and Toni, widely touted to be top scorer contenders looked completely bewildered and out of their depth and the French forwards weren't helped by the complete lack of an attacking influence behind them. I reckon Domenech was probably on the phone to Zizou after the Romania game...
"S?il vous plaît, s?il vous plaît, s?il vous plaît nous aider à ZZ."
Benzema, Henry et al must have been really miffed to have gone to a tournament with a coach so completely bereft of ideas. Especially Benzema, this was his big stage to shine and you could see it in the opening game. It was him dropping deep, trying to find space, trying to make a difference when no-one around him was able to.
Oooh look I've waffled on for far too long,
Here's my XI
Boruc
Altintop
Goian
Cheillini
Pranjic
Fabregas
Xavi
Silva
Sneijder
Podolski
Nihat (because his finish against the Czechs was magnificent)
Reserves:
van der Saar
Rat
Panucci
Sionko
Schweinsteiger
Rakitic
Modric
De La Red
Deco
Villa
van Persie
Ollic
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Talking your worst team of the tournament don't forget Luca Toni up front.
Not only did he miss a hatful of chances, I think he actually prevented his team mates from scoring on a few occaisions... quite an acheivement.
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it begs beyond belief how silva gets in instead of arda and podolski, hes just a little brat who didnt nothing apart from headbutt podolski, and score a goal against a broken russian team
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