BBC SPORT | Euro 2008 blog

Who will have the golden touch?

Steve Wilson
6 Jun 08, 05:53 PM

Geneva

I was interested to read in the local Geneva newspaper this morning that Fernando Torres and Cristiano Ronaldo are joint favourites to finish Euro 2008 as top scorer.

They are fairly obvious picks having scored so many goals in the Premier League last season. It's also likely that both countries will fancy their chances of a long run in the tournament.

You probably remember that last time the Golden Boot went to Milan Baros, which surprised everyone, so I got to wondering who the other candidates might be this time around.

Judging by the L'Equipe newspaper, all of France are hoping that Raymond Domenech selects Karim Benzema ahead of Nicolas Anelka. Benzema, who is just 21, hit 30 goals last season, and I am really looking forward to seeing him play.

In the same group, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar is exciting the Dutch, but they normally play with just one striker, and that will almost certainly be Ruud Van Nistelrooy. It will be tough for Huntelaar to make the same impression as he did at the Under-21 European Championship.

Again in Group C, it would be great to see Italy break free and attack. Luca Toni has been slamming them in for Bayern Munich all season, but against France and Holland, the world champions will almost certainly play it tight.

Will Mario Gomez finish as top scorer?

I have a feeling that the Czech Republic may do well again. If they do - and their group is not the hardest - then the giant Jan Koller could be a contender. His scoring record at international level is fantastic, although they do rely on him too heavily and there's no Rosicky or Nedved to provide. Remember how the Czechs faded after Koller got injured in the last World Cup?

Germany are well capable of hammering Austria, so Miroslav Klose will be looking to fill his boots, but new boy Mario Gomez could outshine the old-timer.

A Spanish top scorer other than Fernando Torres is certainly a possibility. David Villa has a better hit rate for Spain than the Liverpool striker and group opponents Russia, Sweden and Greece could all be a bit ponderous defensively.

He may be the world's best paid player but I reckon Zlatan Ibrahimovic is considerably over-rated and I can't see Sweden busting the net too often anyway, so for me he is a real outsider.

Now it's over to you. Who do you think will go home with title of top scorer?

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Phil Gordos: Steve, the guys on the Euro 2008 blog like your reasoning, but they think it's between Cristiano Ronaldo, Mario Gomez and Luca Toni. If you want my opinion, I think the Germans will top the scoring charts by some way.

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Steve Wilson commentates on football for BBC Sport, working on Match of the Day and Football Focus. Please check our FAQs if you have any questions.

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1. At 6:08pm on 06 Jun 2008, manurockrooney wrote:
STEVEN GERRARD!!!
but wait.. hes not in it

i would say 1 torres 2 klose 3 ronaldo

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2. At 6:14pm on 06 Jun 2008, klose_but_no_cygan wrote:
For me it's between Benzema and Gomez as well. Klose may well bang a few in but he's an excellent provider and with Podolski not really finding form for Bayern, Loew could well nurture this Klose-Gomez partnership from the start against 'lesser' opposition like Klinsmann did with Klose-Podolski in the WC. Partnerships are also important in the French camp with Nasri and Benzema developping a great understanding especially at set pieces. Although the experienced Dutch and Italian defences will be wary of this, Benzema has enough talent and support from the attacking midfield to overcome them time and time again. I expect braces from both Gomez and Benzema throughout the tournament.

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3. At 6:16pm on 06 Jun 2008, Super Shuk! wrote:
Steve what you have written is correct, and all those players you have mentioned have a chance. However, you have missed one player who clearly has a chance, a player who was once top goalscorer in La Liga ahead of the likes of Raul, Ronaldo, Eto'o and this season has a great season despite injury, Villarreal's Nihat Kahveci of Turkey. Do not write the guy off!

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4. At 6:37pm on 06 Jun 2008, -Corky101- wrote:
Karim Benzema i reckon with 6 goals

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5. At 6:51pm on 06 Jun 2008, mentalevra wrote:
why is it that everyone follows the medias lead in saying that zlatan is overrated? yes hes had a few bad games in the english eye, ie liverpool (only his finishing was bad, his movement and creativity gave liverpool endless problems, which the english media ignored) and germany at the last world cup (when he seemed to freeze). he almost singlehandedly won inter the title which was epitomised on the last day of the season when he came off the bench to score twice and clinch the scudetto. i hope he finally shows the english media and therefore the public. zlatan aside benzema seems a decent bet for golden boot in a poor group, but koller is playin for a poor czech side missin rosicky and nedved, theyll be lucky to escape their group. or indeed klose for golden boot, as he seems to hide all season and then do well in international tournaments, no idea why...

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6. At 7:23pm on 06 Jun 2008, KC-Run wrote:
I think Klose will be one of the more likely choices. With the Germans attacking style of play, it is going to be hard for the other teams to stop him from getting in the box, he is very slow but give the ball to him in the box and it is a goal.

Toni is also a good contender, but it will be hard for him to get a lot of goals when the Italians will use their defensive style of play.

Torres. Maybe, it depends if Xavi, Fabregas, Iniesta and David Silva can free the space in the midfield to slide a ball into Torres' feet.

Ibrahimovic. No. The minute he plays against consistent defenders, he wont be able to do nothing. Zlatan struggles to come into the game at times, if defenders are keeping him out, he cant do anything and gives up

Benzema, I've seen him in the warm-up matches, he won't be the top-scorer, if it was Lyon maybe. He gets a lot of shots and good positioning, but sometimes he'll be inconsistent with his shooting (for France)

Ronaldo. If he is in form, no one can stop him from scoring, but Portugal are not Man Utd. Portugal have a direct style of play, except for the wingers everybody plays simple passing rather than stylish football

As Steve said. Jan Huntelaar is a good player, but how is he going to get ahead of van Nistlerooy. Especially when van Basten loves Ruud so much

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7. At 7:33pm on 06 Jun 2008, atillakurt wrote:
nihat!! come on turkey!! he's a good outside bet and we could be the dark horses of the tournament, come on the boys!

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8. At 9:23pm on 06 Jun 2008, Modernllama wrote:
Zlatan Ibrahimovic overrated!! His affect on the final game of the season to help Milan win Seria A was obvious. He's such an excellent player...

However I don't believe thart he'll be able to shine on the international stage. I don't think he'll get very good service so why I would say he's chances are slim I don't think he's overrated.

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9. At 9:25pm on 06 Jun 2008, Modernllama wrote:
P.S I realised I didn't really say who would win but I would like Toni to win it or maybe an outsider like Koller but it'll probably be Torres.

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10. At 9:32pm on 06 Jun 2008, detritus66 wrote:
Zlatan Ibrahimovic????? Over rated just doesnt go far enough...... Has he some sort of mind control over managers that convinces them that he is actuallyy a footballer?

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11. At 9:48pm on 06 Jun 2008, aehartley wrote:
The question really asks you to look at the team(s) likely to do well and therefore provide more games for their strikers to score in. I always support Spain (after England) and one day they may actually win something. If they are going to do it at last this year, then I say Torres for top scorer.

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12. At 11:17pm on 06 Jun 2008, remarkablefarhan wrote:
i would like to to remind you that the french winger can do somethin and score goals than the ronaldo and tores because in my experience i can whish him the golden boot

for example he does absuletly like ronaldo and they play same position so they can trust him

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13. At 11:20pm on 06 Jun 2008, remarkablefarhan wrote:
sorry iam talking about frank ribery it is not who you think(henry)

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14. At 11:38pm on 06 Jun 2008, iRocket122 wrote:
Obviously Ronaldo,Torres Or One Of The Many Top Scorers In Their Domestic Leagues Will Win Top Scorer However..There Are Plenty Of Players Who Can Shine At The Euro 2008.

Gomez-Im Predicting At Least 4 Goals From Him.

Podolski-I Reckon He'l Jump Into Form And Get At Least 3(:

David Villa-Could Get More Goals If He Started More Games For Valencia Which Results In More Starts For Spain.

C.Ronaldo-On Form For My Team Manchester United And If You Have No Good Defenders,You Will Not Stop Him,His FreeKicks Are Lethal.

Jan Koller-Underestimated Because Of His Age However He Is Capable Of Scoring Goals If He Gets The Delieveries.

Franck Ribery - Good On The Ball But If He Does Get The Golden Boot,Most Of His Goals Will Be From Set Pieces.

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15. At 02:44am on 07 Jun 2008, fuzzy_reddevil wrote:
I believe that it will a player from a team which plays against Austria. They may have the home support but that team is really terrible !!!

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16. At 03:30am on 07 Jun 2008, krisnos6 wrote:
zlatan is absolutely rubbish.
cristiano will take a backseat.
torres will bag 2 or 3.
henry will have a class finals.
ruud will have 2 or 3.
luca toni will choke as usual for country.
but the top scorer will be klose. as usual he will dominate in national competition.

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17. At 08:52am on 07 Jun 2008, quickquip wrote:
ha,, ha, you all overlook the obvious best prospect, none other than Rutgerus Johannes Martinius van Nistelrooy! Don't count Ruud out yet - or the Dutch - there's a good reason why he's rated ahead of Huntelaar; and by the end of the tournament he'll be rated ahead of every other striker, too!

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18. At 09:52am on 07 Jun 2008, englandcomeon wrote:
why is everbody frightened of Klose, this Pole is out of form and has played a rather minor role in the league this season.

He's a great goal hanger and lays on goals for Toni for example, I'd far more fancy Gomez to take the golden boot in any Germany player.

Having played about half as many games as Luca Toni (mainly due to injury) scored about 4 goals less, in a team that was an embarassment compared to the team that won the league the previous season.

If Portugal make it anywhere this time Ronaldo has to be favourite, don't discount Russia, I think you'll find this team to be the dark horses and may well do a lot better than anyone is expecting them to.

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19. At 10:57am on 07 Jun 2008, crarrneo wrote:
Baros is currently rubbish as hes lost his pace.
Koller is pushing on a bit but is still a handful being 2.02.
Also Martin Fenin who assisted the u20 czech squad to 2nd place at the u20s wc last year and he could really score a few.

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20. At 11:06am on 07 Jun 2008, HeskeysMum wrote:
It is undoubtedly between Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard with both looking to shine over the summer.

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21. At 11:27am on 07 Jun 2008, larkybhoy wrote:
I think it will be tough.I have said Gomez as the Germans could socre goals for fun against Austria. I also have a sneaky feeling maybe someone like Koller who is always a handful.He did really well in the World Cup until he got injured. I think the surprise could be Pogrebnyak for Russia.I feel Russia will cause an upset.He was fanatasic in Zenit's sucess in winning the UEFA Cup.He was joint top goalscorer in the tournament.He has all round ability

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22. At 11:29am on 07 Jun 2008, guta5807 wrote:
Zlatan is over-rated as a goalscorer, not as a footballer. He is very strong, hold the ball brilliantly and sets up goals. Zlatan has been a starting player for the Italian champions for 4 years in a row now (although Juventus were stripped of their trophies - not his fault). It's not a coincidence.

He would arguably have a chance of scoring many goals in a better national team, but Sweden will only play 3-4 games. No, he will not be the leading scorer of this tournament. I'm guessing Toni or Torres.

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23. At 11:48am on 07 Jun 2008, FoxForever - Common Dreads - (a.k.a sunillcfcp) wrote:
I think it will be hard for players in Group C becoming top scorers. With such good teams, these matches are likely to be very tight with the odd couple of goals.

So i think this is where players like Mario Gomez (Germany), Koller (Czech) and Luka Modric (Croatia and Torres, Villa (both Spain) have their chance to shine.

Maybe without England, this Championship will be extremely exciting.

Have a good summer everyone!

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24. At 11:59am on 07 Jun 2008, nerazzurro wrote:
Ibra isn't considered to be a goal machine. There is alot more to his game than finishing. He is quick, strong and very skillful, although he is admittedly quite lazy and drifts in and out of games. However, I hate the way the English press promote him as a useless player and everybody without a brain just adopts the same attitude. I mean, Rooney is not a huge goalscorer, but his determination and teamwork of the ball win himself endless praise. So why is Rooney's determination praised and Zlatan's creativity lambasted?

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25. At 12:00pm on 07 Jun 2008, Estesark wrote:
I fancy Germany to go all the way, so whichever one of their strikers hits top form will probably claim the golden boot. Klose would be my guess.

I also fancy Ibrahimovic to prove a few people wrong, including yourself, Steve. I think he'll have a strong tournament.

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26. At 12:00pm on 07 Jun 2008, Stiffjoe wrote:
All i care about that is that it wont be someone from the England team

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27. At 12:27pm on 07 Jun 2008, klose_but_no_cygan wrote:
All i care about is that the managers of English teams are watching and that as many of the top scorers as possible come to the EPL.

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28. At 12:42pm on 07 Jun 2008, parklife76 wrote:
Post 18 mentioned Russia as possible dark horses, I too agree and one guy yet to be mentioned (and who I'm pinning my fantasy football hopes on) is: Pavlyuchenko

If I remember correctly he has scored against England and Celtic recently and has been top scorer in the Russian league for the last few years!

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29. At 1:25pm on 07 Jun 2008, BatBen81 wrote:
Klose. Germany will have a good run and Klose will take full advantage. I'm amazed he's never been targeted by a top English side! Guarenteed goals!

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30. At 1:38pm on 07 Jun 2008, Whittingham_42 wrote:
I am certain that Karim Benzema will make the same impact on Euro 2008 that Rooney made in 2004. I saw every game he played for Lyon last season and honestly, the guy is truly electric.

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31. At 2:23pm on 07 Jun 2008, nkdinamo wrote:
Blood Sugar (post 23) and others have mentioned Modric as a potential goals leader. While I hope and expect that he will be in fantastic form, he is more likely to create than to score. Mladen Petric could bang a few in, and Kranjcar is no mean threat either, but I expect a rather even scoring distribution from this side. Zivila Hrvatska!

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32. At 2:39pm on 07 Jun 2008, Mopeymann wrote:
How come no one's menntioned Lukaz Podolski?

Germany's top scorer in qualifying.

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33. At 3:23pm on 07 Jun 2008, smokingJulian
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34. At 3:32pm on 07 Jun 2008, bubblegummandroid wrote:
For me it has to be Miroslav Klose but i also agree with Mopeymann that people are underestimating Podolski. Ronaldo should also bang a few in. Oh and Henry anyone?

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35. At 4:34pm on 07 Jun 2008, klose_but_no_cygan wrote:
Podolski is off form. Why play him consistently throughout the tournament when Gomez and Klose played really well against Belarus?

Yes Podolski was top scorer in qualifying, but half (4/8) of his goals came in one match against San Marino which Germany won 13-0. Apart from that match his recent record is nothing spectacular and many Bayern fans were calling for him to be loaned out last season

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36. At 4:58pm on 07 Jun 2008, eezy_squeezy wrote:
Michael Ballack is a great each way bet. Takes all the Germans' free kicks and penalties, finished the season with Chelsea bang in form - and, as he was out injured for a significant amount of time, he is a lot fresher than most of the players on display.

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37. At 03:55am on 09 Jun 2008, joemaica wrote:
Podolski couldn't have started the tournament any better. Let's see how Adrian Mutu goes tomorrow. I expect him to bag a couple against the ageing cuckolds.

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38. At 08:32am on 09 Jun 2008, fair teh middlin' wrote:
From a bit of hindsight (ie. never using the internet over the weekend), it has to be Podolski.

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