Best Goalkeeper: Iker Casillas - Again Saint Iker has pulled out all the stops when his country has needed him the most. Buffon could have received this award but the whole Italian team's performance in the final was too poor to remove from my memory.
Best Defender: Pepe - Pepe played as well as any centre-back has in any tournament that I have seen. Consistently excellent from the first game to Portugal's semi-final exit.
Best Midfielder: Mesut Özil - His attacking play was simply breathtaking. His naturally fluid style of dribbling combined with his eagle eyed vision and pin point passing, Özil was the most entertaining player to watch throughout the tournament but especially in the knock-out stages.
Best Striker: Zlatan Ibrahimovic - Ibra raises the ability of all those around him whilst his physical presence affords him the time and space that every striker desires on the ball. He has the best first touch in world football and his every move was to be admired throughout his short stint at the tournament.
Best Match: Sweden 2 - 3 England - A stirring comeback from "Roy's Boys" after going down to a rather good Sweden side but with great goals from Carroll and Welbeck, this game was hard to take your eyes off.
Worst Match: Italy 2 - 0 Ireland - This match felt like a dead rubber and played out in a very monotonous and predictable manner.
Surprise Player: Alan Dzagoev - I had heard great things about Dzagoev but the way Russia started the tournament you would have made them favourites straight away. Unfortunately for the young man, Russia exited in the group stages and he was unable to build upon his goal tally of three.
Best Manager: Paulo Bento - I was going to award this to Prandelli but his tactical mistake in the final of switching to four at the back against Spain meant that I had to give this to Bento. He did a masterful job with Portugal and probably deserved to make the final. Unlucky to go out on penalties, Portugal and Bento might be a team to watch at the World Cup, especially if Ronaldo can play to his absolute best.
Team of the Tournament:
---------------------- Casillas -----------------------
Arbeloa-------Pepe--------- Hummels ---- Coentrão
Dzagoev---------Özil---------Xavi----------Arshavin
---------------Ibrahimovic-------Mandzukic-----------------
Honourable Mentions - Buffon, Gabre Selassie, Agger, Alba, Iniesta, Pirlo, De Rossi, Sneijder, Gomez, Balotelli
Player of the Tournament: Mesut Özil - Özil was an absolute joy to watch throughout the tournament but his defensive teammates just couldn't handle the likes of Balotelli and Cassano. In my opinion, Özil is the best out and out central attacking midfielder in the world and he will only continue to improve.
Surprise Team: Greece - They weren't able to replicate the country's 2004 success but they did manage to qualify from their group stage where they were probably favoured to finish last. Karagounis' performance in their third game was arguably the performance of the tournament.
Overperformers: Portugal - Drawn in the 'Group of Death' but still able to qualify by nullifying the likes of Sneijder in the last game. Should have been in the final after a great performance against Spain but were knocked out on penalties.
Underperformers: Russia - Netherlands were knocked out by Germany and Portugal but Russia couldn't qualify from a group consisting of Poland, Czech Republic and Greece. That is not good enough for a side that has two players in my Team of the Tournament. They should have been aiming for a good performance in the quarter finals but unfortunately one of the more exciting teams were knocked out early.
