European Championships 2012 Group Stage XI

Goalkeeper: Iker Casillas - Has been very good in goal for Spain limiting their opponents to one goal despite there being quite a few openings in the Spanish defence. May have kept his team in the tournament against Croatia with a save from Rakitic's header.

Honourable Mentions - Stipe Pletikosa, Gigi Buffon

Right Back:  Theodor Gabre Selassie - Never afraid to overlap down the right, giving the Czechs a great outlet and allowing Jiracek to cut inside and cause problems. The unsung hero of the Czech team. I could have gone for Srna but he played in midfield against Spain, so I opted for Selassie.

Honourable Mentions - Dario Srna

Centre Back: Mats Hummels - Confident in possession and excellent in the tackle. What more could you want from a defender. He is the complete centre back, Pique with a German attitude and defensive ability. I think it will only be a matter of time before he is recognised as the world's best centre back. Bayern Munich must be kicking themselves for letting such a player leave to their biggest rivals for a mere £7 million.

Centre Back: Pepe - If he had played like this for Real Madrid, I think Madrid would have won the treble. He has had a magnificent tournament so far and if he carries on in this fashion, I would not rule Portugal out as a potential winner. Had a shot bounce back off the crossbar and goal line in the first game but got his goal in the second. He has been a warrior at the back too, with a last ditch tackle against the Dutch when the Portuguese needed him the most.

Honourable Mentions - Daniel Agger, John 'Braveheart' Terry (It pains me to put him in here), Olaf Mellberg

Left Back: Fabio Coentrao - Unbelievable in attack, almost a European and left back version of Dani Alves without the blistering pace. So not particularly like him but you get the idea. Bombs down the flank allowing Cristiano Ronaldo to do his thing. These performances might give Marcelo some worries, especially as Mourniho has been in Poland watching the games with his son.

Honourable Mentions - Sebastian Boenisch

Right Midfield: Alan Dzagoev - He has come of age in a tournament where his nation have been eliminated at the first hurdle. Such a shame for a goalscoring winger with great potential. Could one day make an impact on the continental stage with a big club.

Honourable Mentions - Nani, David Silva

Central Midfield: Steven Gerrard - Finally he has stepped up big time at a tournament. Maybe he can only play on teams with limited talent (see Champions League Final 2005), but his crossing has been a delight plus he has remained tactically aware throughout except for the Samir Nasri goal. It is looking good for England as long as Rooney hits a bit of form.

Central Midfield: Andres Iniesta - Hasn't stood out in my opinion in any of the games but has been consistently performing throughout the tournament. Could be a dark horse for Player of the Tournament. This would have gone to Wesley Sneijder but I did not think he played very well down the left against Portugal in the final game of the tournament.

Honourable Mentions - Wesley Sneijder, Andrea Pirlo, Daniele De Rossi (Wasn't really sure whether to put him in the midfielder slot or the defensive slots)

Left Midfield: Andrei Arshavin - Arsene Wenger must be wondering what he has to do to get Arshavin to perform like this in North London. He would improve any team in the world with this kind of form but still it was not enough to get the Russians out of the easiest group in the competition. Could have had something to do with Advocaat already having a job lined up.

Honourable Mentions - Nobody came close to Arshavin in my opinion but Michael Krohn-Dehli would have been my second choice.

Striker: Zlatan Ibrahimovic - In my opinion he has easily been the best player in the tournament so far. Dragged a very average Swedish team to nearly qualify. Scored a phenomenal goal against France and always looked to use the ball well.

Striker: Mario Gomez - Scored three goals in the competition so far and must surely be odds on to receive the Golden Boot. If he had showed this kind of form in the semi finals and final of the Champions' League, Bayern would have won it by a country mile. Drogba must be looking on with glee.

Honourable Mentions - Mario Mandzukic, Nicklas Bendtner

Surprises Galore!!

Best Goalkeeper: Iker Casillas - Had a very solid game for Spain, and just like in South Africa, he has kept Spain in the game when they play poorly. One of the best goalkeepers to every play the game. I also considered Pletikosa, Isaksson and Cech.

Best Defender: Joao Pereira - Defended well against Sneijder, who didn't look good enough to dribble past Pereira. He was a threat down the right when he ventured forward and provided Ronaldo with a pass that Xavi would be proud of. This could also have gone to Pepe or Papasthathopoulos.

Best Midfielder: Giorgios Karagounis - Perhaps my favourite performance of the whole tournament so far. I should be giving this to Ronaldo, but I feel like Ronaldo should have scored more goals. Karagounis showed the passion that is necessary to lead your country, something I have always been critical of Steven Gerrard. He scored a goal, should have had a penalty and ended up nearly being sent off. The substitution was a wise one but I expect he will play a huge part in Greece's progression throughout the knockouts. Fully deserving of his record-equalling 120th cap.

Best Striker: Zlatan Ibrahimovic - Just a classy striker. Scored a phenomenal goal and played some great touches across the pitch for Sweden on a day when they dominated a very flat and average French team. It is a shame that he is going out because clearly this Sweden team has more drive than their French counterparts. 

Best Match: Portugal 2 - 1 Netherlands - This was a spectacle from the Portugese who did not lose faith when Rafael van der Vaart scored a wondergoal but instead responded with an attacking force which on this day blew the Dutch away. Blistering counters with Coentrao, Ronaldo and Nani killed a defence which was there for the taking especially as van Bommel had been dropped. A very entertaining game.

Worst Match: Italy 2 - 0 Ireland - I did not think that any of the matches were boring but this match had the feel of a dead rubber. Hopefully Italy perform this badly against England.

Surprise Player: Lars Bender - I did not know that the defensive midfielder could play at right back so comfortably, but he was able to fill in Jerome Boateng's boots quite easily. He won every single aerial duel and was able to captalise on a rare wayward pass by Mesut Ozil to cap his performance off with a good goal.

Underachieving Player: Robin van Persie - Another awful performance. I think he should seriously consider his international future after confirming that he is a player who just seems as if he will never produce within the pressure of international football.

Best Manager: Slavan Bilic - I think this is the first time that I am giving this award to a losing manager, especially one that is being knocked out after this loss but Croatia played to a high level and perhaps deserved to go through. He was unlucky as a manager after making every single decision correctly, that Iker Casillas put in a great performance and his team were wasteful in front of goal. I hope Bilic does well at Locomotiv Moscow so that he can move to a good team and showcase his talents across Europe.

Team of the Round:

--------------------------Casillas-------------------------

Pereira-------Pepe---------Papasthathopoulos----Selin

Larsson-----Karagounis--------Modric------------Ronaldo

-----------------Ibrahimovic---------Cassano------------------

Honourable Mentions - Isaksson, Bender, Agger, Melberg, Coentrao, Pirlo, Kallstrom, Nani, Samaras

Predictions

Golden Boot: Mario Gomez (Previously Cesc Fabregas) - Gomez is the only player with three goals who remains in the competition and with the likes of Ozil and Schweinsteiger behind him, he looks set to add to his great goalscoring season. Also he is playing Greece next whom Germany should be able to rip apart. Obviously if Ronaldo hits top form he could end up scoring by the bucket load but I think Gomez might run away with it.

Player of the Tournament: Bastian Schweinsteiger (Unchanged) - He did not have the best of games against Denmark but I still think he is a shoe in for this award. If he performs like we all know he is capable of he might be able to lead a losing generation of Germans to victory. Normally the group stages do not affect decisions towards awards of this nature.

Winners: Spain (Unchanged) - It is difficult to see Spain playing worse than they did against Croatia yet they still won and ended up topping the group. This seems to set them up for a relatively easy route to the final, firstly against France and then most likely against Portugal in the semi finals.

Surprise Team: Greece (Previously Croatia) - I am shocked that they were able to defeat a talented Russian team but it was like travelling through a time tunnel all the way back to 2004. Hopefully they will able to produce a similar display against the Germans.

Overperformers: Greece (Previously Poland) - Ditto

Underperformers: France (Previously Ireland) - This was a display that lacked enthusiasm or pride. I cannot believe that they allowed themselves to be overrun by a Swedish side which is quite average. The Dutch were abject at times but played well enough in spurts that I gave this award to the French. In hindsight, they were very lucky to get through the group stages.

Euros 2012 - Round Two of the Group Stage

Another great round of games completed, here our your awards:

Best Goalkeeper: Andriy Pyatov - Made a string of good saves and kept Ukraine in the game for the most part though he was aided by some poor French finishing. Could have given it to Malafeev as well.

Best Defender: Alvaro Arbeloa - Arbeloa is normally not a full back who will maraud down the flanks but against the Irish he was phenomenally good. The Irish were awful and Arbeloa took full advantage, always getting open to recieve passes from the best midfielders in the world. Hummels, Strinic and Selassie played very well too.

Best Midfielder: Bastian Scweinsteiger - Dubbed 'The Brain' by Jogi Low, Schweinsteiger passed the ball as well as I have ever seen him. He made a few good tackles and set up Gomez for both of his goals. The Dutch could not cope with the time and space that Schweinsteiger made for himself, even when they had two holding midfielders on the pitch. Silva was obviously incredible as was every single Spainsh player. Nani, Arshavin, Dzagoev, Obraniak, Walcott and the whole French midfield also played extremely well. This was a tough award to give out this week. Cabaye could have won the award but seemed to let the game pass him by at times, as with most of the French players.

Best Striker: Fernando Torres - As always, he worked extremely hard off the ball which worked out brilliantly for the Spanish as he nipped in front of the lumbering Irish line to collect the ball after Dunne had made a good tackle and slot the ball straight above Given's head. He was always a threat and should have probably scored more but I still think he looked like he was lacking in confidence. Two goals will do him a world of good and hopefully he can start performing again to an elite level. Mario Gomez, Niklas Bendtner and Karim Benzema also played very well, especially Benzema who showed that he can play to a high level even when he does not score as he set up both French goals.

Best Match: Sweden 2 - 3 England - Maybe I am being slightly bias here because I could have so easily gone for the Denmark - Portugal game, but there were too many moments in this game to mention. The comeback from England was immense and to be honest, I did not think they had it in them. Fantastic fighting spirit could mean that the England bandwagon is starting to roll!

Worst Match: Ukraine 0 - 2 France - The weather conditions did not help this match as it was suspended for an hour and then resumed without the players having a warm up. Thus I felt the first half was pretty hard to watch. The French dominated the game and should have won by a more comfortable margin but I think they will be happy with their overall performance. Again, the Euros have produced a very good tournament with no truly bad matches.

Surprise Player: Ludovic Obraniak - The Bordeaux player surprised me, not because he played well, but because he played well whilst going up against a good right back in Anyukov. He made Anyukov look very average and clocked an assist in the process. 

Underachieving Player: Petr Cech - A few players could have taken this award but for one of the world's greatest keepers to keep on dropping clangers in the European Championships (see 2008) is unbelievable. Hopefully he will step up his game as with Rosicky injured, he is now Czech Republic's best hope for staying in the Euro's against co-hosts Poland.

Best Manager: Slavan Bilic - Bilic has produced yet another strong Croatian team who stuck by their principles in the wake of a strong Italian team. Having four in midfield (though Mandzukic can drop back when necessary) at the start of the game against the five Italian midfielders was a gamble but it looks to have succeeded in giving them a good chance of sneaking through ahead of the Italians, especially if another 2-2 draw occurs like in 2004.

Team of the Round:

--------------------------Pyatov-------------------------

Selassie----Hummels--------- Pique---------Strinic

Silva-----Schweinsteiger-------Ozil---------Arshavin

-----------------Torres-------------Bendtner--------------

Honourable Mentions - Srna, Mexes, Melberg, Pepe, Coentrao, Cabye, Nani, Benzema, Gomez and Any Spanish Player

Predictions

Golden Boot: Cesc Fabregas (Previously Antonio Di Natale) - I think that my choice of Di Natale last week might have been a romantic one. Cesc could be the top scorer especially as Spain should go far in the competition but he faces stiff competition from Mario Gomez and Alan Dzagoev. If Torres hits top form at the right time, he too could challenge for the Golden Boot.

Player of the Tournament: Bastian Schweinsteiger (Previously Cesc Fabregas) - If Fabregas is reduced to a starring role from the bench then I think this is Schweinsteiger's tournament to grab with both hands though I can see Mesut Ozil winning this award too.

Winners: Spain (Unchanged) - I do not see how any team could have enough of the ball to beat such a talented group of players. Also, with Ramos at centre-back instead of the injured Pujol and Jordi Alba the new left back, they are much more athletic in defence. There are teams that can challenge Spain as shown by their draw against Italy but I still feel as if they weren't playing to their best as they dismantled a very poor Ireland team.

Surprise Team: Croatia (Previously Denmark) - Croatia stand a good chance of qualifying, especially if Spain rest some players in their final group game. Italy are still favourites to qualify but Croatia have given themselves an excellent chance of knocking Italy out of the tournament.

Overperformers: Poland (Previously Ukraine) - I am choosing the other co-host this week after they fought back against Russia to equalise and then push on to go for the win. Unfortunately they were unable to get three points, but they certainly showed that Czech Republic will have a tough game on their hands.

Underperformers: Ireland (Unchanged) - Could have chosen the Dutch again this week, but at least they have a chance of qualifying. This was embarrassing. Ireland did not look as if they had a game plan and even if they did, it unravelled in four minutes with a Torres goal. Spain were not just infinitely more talented, but it looked as if they were more hungry too. Traps has done a good job at Ireland but this tournament will have tarnished his reputation and there may be some big calls for him to step down despite the long contract that he has just signed.

Final Thoughts - This has been a great tournament so far, no boring matches and all the teams, excluding Ireland and maybe Greece, look as if they feel as though they can qualify. There have been some matches with negative tactics but these matches have still been exciting and I cannot wait until the last games of the group stages. Every game seems to have something riding on it and with match ups like Netherlands - Portugal and Spain - Croatia, we could be in for a treat.

Euros 2012 Kicks Off With A Bang! Awards for the first set of games.

The Euros have been fantastic so far, there have been so many different types of exciting matches. Here are my awards for the first round of matches, in a similar fashion to that of World Cup 2010.

Best Goalkeeper: Stephan Andersen - No goalkeeper really stood out but Andersen made a few saves to keep a clean sheet and give Denmark an improbable win. 

Best Defender: Matts Hummels - After a couple of nervy touches at the start of the match, Hummels showed his true ability showing why he is the best centre-back in the Bundesliga. His on the ball ability is similar to that of Pique (though not quite as good) but his defending is much better than Pique ensuring that Germany can become an even better team in the future. This is his tournament to secure a starting role in the team that will be his for years to come.

Best Midfielder: Andrei Arshavin - It was a tough choice between Arshavin and Dzagoev for this award but I gave to Arshavin as he was a constant threat to the Czechs. His dribbling was mesmerising at times and his creativity really showed in the match.

Best Striker: Zlatan Ibrahimovic - Looked like one man on a pitch of boys. His touch was impeccable especially when he teed Elmander up for a last minuted chance. He took his goal well and should have scored another where he hit the post. Unfortunately for him, it looks as if Sweden will be exiting the tournament.

Best Match: Spain 1 - 1 Italy - Probably the pick of the matches, both teams exuded class both on and off the ball. I actually though that Italy were the better team and that Spain only really started playing properly once Italy had scored.

Worst Match: France 1 - 1 England - It was a decent game but there have not been any poor games in the tournament so far. This game seemed to die midway through the second half when England fatigued to a level where you would have thought their players to be amateur and both teams seemed to accept the draw as a result.

Surprise Player: Dimitris Salpangidis - He came on as a substitute but seemed to catalyse a Greek offensive in the second half which turned the game upon its head. Scored a goal and won a penalty, which he also celebrated as if he had scored a goal, should have had a winning impact on the game.


Underachieving Player: Robin Van Persie - Couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat; he was awful. He should have scored several times but I think it is time that the Dutch accept that Van Persie is a player who just, for no apparant reason, does not replicate his club form for country. Lionel Messi has been accused of this too, though recently he seems to have turned a new leaf with Argentina. Perhaps it was when El Diego left as manager of the country! 

Best Manager: Morton Olsson - The Danes were fantastic, though on another day, they could have quite easily conceded many goals but they came across Wesly Sneijder in top form. They managed to grab a win against the Dutch and could now be the surprise team to come out of 'The Group of Death'.

Team of the Round:

--------------------------Andersen-------------------------

Debuchy----Hummels--------- Agger---------Zhirkov

Dzagoev-----Sneijder-------De Rossi---------Arshavin

---------------Ibrahimovic------Shevchenko----------------

Honourable Mentions - Selassie, Chiellini, Lescott, Gerrard, Pirlo, Manzukovic, Salpangidis

Predictions

Golden Boot: Di Natale - If Klose is injured and Jogi Loew does not feel comfortable enough to start him then the Golden Boot is probably up for grabs. Kerzhakov, Van Persie and Huntelaar had a torrid time in their first game giving the opportunity to somebody else to grab. Gomez, Fabregas and Dzagoev are all possibilities as are the aforementioned strikers who did not perform to their maximum potential.

Player of the Tournament: Fabregas - Cesc Fabregas has lived in the shadows of both Xavi and Iniesta when representing Spain but I think that this might be the tournament for him to shine in, especially if Spain do not play a striker making him their best goalscorer in their starting XI.

Winners: Spain - Although many teams performed very well, I still feel as if Spain could play a lot better than they did. Italy, Germany and perhaps Russia could challenge but I do not think anybody has the talent levels of Spain.

Surprise Team: Denmark - I knew they had qualified ahead of Portugal but they were drawn in 'The Group of Death' and I did not think they had it in them to finish in the top two. However, after their performance against the Dutch, they must surely be favourites to qualify second after Germany.

Overperformers: Ukraine - They played with attacking vigour, passing the ball around with purpose and dribbling with good direction. However they seem heavily relient on Shevchenko to finish their chances but he isn't a young man any more and could find it tough to keep up all the running over the whole tournament. 

Underperformers: Ireland - I could have picked the Swedes or the Dutch but I was bitterly disappointed to see the Irish let in three sloppy goals against a Croatian team who whilst technically more talented, did not seem to create clear cut goal scoring opportunities. The Swedes were also very poor, if any of their players had performed to half the level of Ibrahimovic, they probably would have beaten an average Ukrainian team. Netherlands will still be a stern test for both Germany and Portugal.

Final Thoughts - This has been a throughly entertaining tournament so far and I hope that it continues in a similar vein. Portugal looked much better after Germany scored and should probably start with Oliviera instead of Postiga. Van Persie was awful but luckily for him, Huntelaar missed several chances when he came on the pitch so I do not think he will be dropped but I wouldn't be surprised to see Huntelaar come into the starting lineup. 

Come on England!!!