UEFA EURO 2012 Team of the Tournament Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Italy), Iker Casillas (Spain), Manuel Neuer (Germany). Defenders: Gerard Piqué (Spain), Fábio Coentrão (Portugal), Philipp Lahm (Germany), Pepe (Portugal), Sergio Ramos (Spain), Jordi Alba (Spain). Midfielders: Daniele de Rossi (Italy), Steven Gerrard (England), Xavi Hernández (Spain), Andrés Iniesta (Spain), Sami Khedira (Germany), Sergio Busquets (Spain), Mesut Özil (Germany), Andrea Pirlo (Italy), Xabi Alonso (Spain). Forwards: Mario Balotelli (Italy), Cesc Fàbregas (Spain), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Zlatan Ibrahimović (Sweden), David Silva (Spain). >>> Iniesta Named Player of the Tournament "Pirlo was magnificent and obviously circumstances didn't help him in the final," said UEFA technical director Andy Roxburgh. "Xabi Alonso, Xavi Hernández and Iniesta were all superb. In the case of Xavi, he won the award last time, and he could easily have won the award again, but we felt that Iniesta deserved it. In many ways, he symbolised the tournament – the creative, incisive runner, with and without the ball. We felt that he epitomised a lot of what we saw." >>> Golden Boot: Torres Six strikers scored three goals at Euro 2012, but Chelsea striker Torres took the award by virtue of having provided one assist and his goals coming in just 189 minutes of playing time. The decisive assist that lifted Torres to Golden Boot winner came in the 88th minute against Italy as he squared a ball for substitute Juan Mata to score. The other players to finish on three goals were Italy's Mario Balotelli, Alan Dzagoev of Russia, Germany's Mario Gomez, Croatia's Mario Mandzukic and Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo. Torres' goal against Italy also made him the first player to score in two European Championship finals. >>> Fouls Committed 1 Mario Balotelli, Italy, 17 2 Milan Baros, Czech Republic / Álvaro Arbeloa, Spain 16 4 Nani, Portugal, 13 5 Xabi Alonso, Spain, 11 >>> Shots 1 Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal, 35 2 Mario Balotelli, Italy, 26 3 Andrés Iniesta, Spain, 18 Karim Benzema, France, 18 5 Antonio Cassano, Italy, 15 >>> Shots on Target 1 Cristiano Ronaldo Portugal 15 2 Mario Balotelli Italy 14 3 Andrés Iniesta Spain 13 4 Karim Benzema France 12 5 Antonio Cassano Italy 9
Also, as the Tournaments over, I'd like to give a shout out to the officiating. There were errors of course and a few clunkers (a group round match, I can't really which that was hampered by the ref), but I think I can safely say this Tournament was free from major, epic, referee howlers. (The Ukraine goal was offside, so that's a wash.) On the whole, I think there was really an emphasis on letting the teams play, and most decisions were generally very defensible. So: Well done -- you miserable, blind, corrupt bastards.
Heh, I find it amusing that Torres wins the golden boot but not in the euro team (although I agree he doesn't deserve to be in there, just found it funny)
I'm not sold on Iniesta as best player - I don't think there was a true standout, and I feel his reputation probably got him the nod. For me, the best players were (in no particular order) Casillas, Alonso, Alba and Pirlo. Iniesta is in the next bunch, with people like Busquets, De Rossi and Ramos. Spain's formation had an impact on his performance. He was too far forward to really influence games - his best performance for me was in extra time against Portugal where he played deeper with Pedro and Navas giving passing options and creating space for him to move in to. He had a fine tournament and certainly deserved to be in the team of the tournament, but he wasn't the best player on his own team.
To the earlier poster, I think had Torres shot and scored the 4th rather than assisted Mata, he would have had to be included in the Team of the Tournament.
Happy for Spain, but all-in-all it kinda got boring as it progressed. Horrible final, unless you like Spain (or hate Italy). This guy's takes on the tourney have been great, though I think some don't get that it's satire: http://thebarnstormer.com/the-end-of-football-ii-the-end-of-football/
One player who I think needs some credit despite going out at the group stage was Daniel Agger. He wass outstanding for Denmark.
Pirlo should have got player of the cup. All the talk was about him pre final and because of one game people ignore the rest? Disgrace. Bendtner was also a top scorer with 3 goals.