Euro 2008 - Team of the tournament

Eurosport - Mon, 30 Jun 15:21:00 2008

We select our team of the tournament based on the UEFA technical committee's 23-man selection.

Euro 2008 Spain Xavi - 0

Goalkeeper - Gianluigi Buffon (Italy)

Italy had a disappointing tournament but it could have been a lot worse if not for Buffon's penalty save against Romania. Also showed natty dress sense.

Right-back - Hamit Altintop (Turkey)

Fatih Terim used him as both a defender and a midfielder, but the lack of an acceptable alternative sees one of Turkey's brightest sparks fill the right-back spot.

Centre-back - Carlos Marchena (Spain)

Not as heralded as either Carles Puyol or Sergio Ramos, presumably on account of having less hair. Rarely had to perform heroics as he was always in the right place.

Centre-back - Pepe (Portugal)

The Brazilian-born Real Madrid man showed plenty of ability going forwards as well as defensively. Largely blameless for the marking shambles that cost Portugal against Germany.

Left-back - Yuri Zhirkov (Russia)

Personified Russia's swashbuckling style, paying scant attention to his defensive duties and bombing forward at every opportunity. Bags of pace and a hammer of a left foot.

Right midfield - Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands)

A lone Dutch representative after the wheels came off the Orange bandwagon. Scored two of the goals of the tournament against Italy and France and ran the show in midfield.

Central midfield - Luka Modric (Croatia)

Spurs fans wondering why he cost three times more than Niko Kranjcar had their fears allayed as Modric carried a spirited Croatian side to the brink of the semi-finals.

Central midfield - Xavi (Spain)

Could pass a camel through the eye of a needle. UEFA's player of the tournament after a superb final performance that showed exactly why Luis Aragones prefers him to Cesc Fabregas.

Left midfield - Lukas Podolski (Germany)

The Polish-born striker was not expected to start for the Germans after a difficult season for Bayern Munich, but quickly carved out his niche as a pacy, incisive goalscoring winger.

Second striker - Andrei Arshavin (Russia)

Granted, he only played well twice, but what an impact. Dazzled as the Russians breezed past Sweden, then orchestrated the demolition of Holland. Barcelona awaits.

Main striker - Fernando Torres (Spain)

Only found the net twice but proved a willing workhorse for the Spanish cause. Discovered his goalscoring touch at the perfect time, scoring a superb winner in the final.

Substitutes:

Iker Casillas (Spain)

Edwin van der Sar (Netherlands)

Jose Bosingwa (Portugal)

Philipp Lahm (Germany)

Carles Puyol (Spain)

Marcos Senna (Spain)

Konstantin Zyryanov (Russia)

Michael Ballack (Germany)

Cesc Fabregas (Spain)

Andres Iniesta (Spain)

Roman Pavlyuchenko (Russia)

David Villa (Spain)

- - -

Alex Chick / Eurosport

Comment 65 - 84 of 84

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  1. wow. amazed to c e exclusion of ramos & villa frm spain. as well as senna frm e 1st XI. schweinni's missin 2. funny.

    From evonyiqian, on Mon 14 Jul 5:05PM

  2. It should have some more Dutch & spanish players as both teams were on fire during the tourniment also there should have been Shweinshteinger he was one of the best players in the tourniment.

    From ruaridh.brown, on Thu 3 Jul 5:46PM

  3. stupid line up...by stupic eurosport

    From soon_hck, on Tue 1 Jul 2:55PM

  4. Stupid Eurosport.. Lahm should be in the first team, don't u watch every Germany match?
    Then, where is Bastian? If not him, Germany already eliminate against Portugal!

    From scottiegreen41, on Tue 1 Jul 2:40PM

  5. Haha - I think it's really funny how everyone just ignored trippier1977's comment!!!

    And, on another note, I thought Ramos was fantastic too, but some people who know more about football than I do think he should learn to stay in his place instead of running all over the pitch. He tried to be the hero on a couple of occasions and didn't score and didn't let Torres or Villa have the chance to score either because he hogged the ball instead of passing. That said, he's fantastic at stealing the ball from the opposition.

    From lady, on Tue 1 Jul 7:53AM

  6. I think Senna should be starter and Spain would be not champion without him.

    From janmoussignac, on Tue 1 Jul 5:15AM

  7. Nooo , I think that Daniele De Rosi and Chiellini are best players and I don't know why aren't there ... Zlatan Ibrahimovic , too ... etc etc etc

    From kushow, on Tue 1 Jul 4:58AM

  8. where arda turan?uefa must be blinded..

    From ryan, on Tue 1 Jul 4:52AM

  9. eufa are stupid.........some of the great players during the tournament are not in the list..

    From ryan, on Tue 1 Jul 4:50AM

  10. Hey, it is not good to write bad words like "kozli ispanci, ne viebivaites! arshavin molodec", about national team who won another twice in the tournament.
    Spain scored a number they wanted and Russia scored a number they were able to.

    From abdulm79, on Tue 1 Jul 4:29AM

  11. UEFA has a new meaning. UnEducated Football Aficionados.
    Buffon...no...not even second team. He saved a poor kick by Mutu...big deal!
    Arshavin... second team
    David Villa...first team
    Iker Casillas...first team
    Iniesta...not even second team...I love him but he didn't have a great tournament
    Robben Arjen...second team...his presence may have changed their result against Russia because he puts so much pressure on opposing defenders, effectively pinning them deeper in their own half
    Sergio Ramos...first or second team
    Carlos Puyol...first or second team
    Bastian Schweinsteiger...second team..he did a lot more than Ballack did.

    From fredbryant99, on Mon 30 Jun 11:11PM

  12. NAH This aint right!!! What tournament were you watching??? Buffon made one important save, the penalty against Romania but how does that make him better than Casillas who has hardly put a foot wrong, he let in two goals in five games (one of them was a deflection following a mistake from Sergio Ramos v Sweden) and saved two Italian penalties out of four in the Quarter Final, arguably much more vital than Buffon's saves against Romania. San Iker should be the Number One as in my opinion he is the best keeper in the World.
    The Team should be: Iker CASILLAS, Yuri ZHIRKOV, Carles PUYOL, PEPE, Sergio RAMOS, XAVI, Cesc FABREGAS, Luka MODRIC, Andrei ARSHAVIN, David VILLA, Fernando TORRES
    CASILLAS: Most consistent, Only two goals conceded in 5 games, Two penalty saves in the Quarter Final
    ZHIRKOV: Great both in defense and going forward, runs a ridiculous amount but is always there to defence
    PUYOL and RAMOS: Best defence at the Tournament by far, not a foot wrong when it mattered the most
    PEPE: Didn't deserve to go out, most impressive of entire Portuguese side, and he scores goals
    XAVI: The Best passer of a ball in the entire tournament
    FABREGAS: Changed every game that he played in, frightening just how good he is going to be
    MODRIC: Tottenham have got themselves a bargain, he just keeps creating but also gets back
    ARSHAVIN: Tore Holland apart, gave Russia a whole new dimension and certainly impressed everyone
    VILLA: Top scorer and works tirelessly for the team, welcome change to Raul
    TORRES: Showed his brilliance when it was needed most, Works tirelessly and what a finish v Germany

    From matt t, on Mon 30 Jun 10:31PM

  13. casillas should start instead of buffon inieasta should start instead of sneijder senna should start instead of modrich arshavin sucks and should be replaced by david villa

    From jamiesheehan, on Mon 30 Jun 8:50PM

  14. You missed Shweinshteinger...a great football player from German side

    From Vitalie A, on Mon 30 Jun 8:29PM

  15. buffon? for real? this is @#$%..casillias deserved it

    From kuno_lala, on Mon 30 Jun 7:20PM

  16. Common this is all wrong. Casillas is meant to start, Ramos instead of altintop at right back, senna should start ahead of modric. Ballack deserves to be in the team. villa should be there in place of arshavin cos he[ is d highest goal scorer. left 2 me, senna is d man of the tournament.

    From kaycee_kolos, on Mon 30 Jun 7:10PM

  17. some of the subs look better than the starters.. casillas should start... villa start... yakim would have been good for mid field... arshavin is overrated...marchena is good but not great... schweinsteiger is pretty good 2...

    From aerosal_artist7, on Mon 30 Jun 6:06PM

  18. It`s not a team of tournament where is Bosingva, and Engelaar

    From nika K, on Mon 30 Jun 5:59PM

  19. Where is Artur Boruc??? The best goalkeer in the world, he is amazing!!!

    From magicomaterazzi, on Mon 30 Jun 5:13PM

  20. Torres ftw!!!

    From velimirius, on Mon 30 Jun 4:42PM
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