Euro
2008 ratings, team of the tournament and top players by
position with descriptions (from FF n° 3247 Spécial Bilan Euro
2008).
THE
FINAL
:
GER
------------------Lehmann-----------------
-----------------------6-----------------------
------------Mertesacker--Metzelder-----
Friedrich--------4----------4--------Lahm
----5--------------------------------------4---
------------Frings-------Hitzlesperger----
---------------6---------------------5---------
---------------------Ballack------------------
-------------------------5----------------------
Schweinseiger------------------Podolski
---------5-------------------------------5-----
---------------------Klose--------------------
------------------------5-----------------------54
coach : Löw.
SPA
--------------------Torres--------------------73
coach :
Aragones.
-----------------------8------------------------
Silva----------------------------------Iniesta
--6----------------------------------------7---
------------Xavi------------Fabregas-------
--------------7-------------------6-------------
---------------------Senna--------------------
-------------------------7-----------------------
Capdevilla--------------------------Ramos
----6--------------------------------------7----
------------Marchena----Puyol-------------
------------------6------------6-----------------
--------------------Casillas-------------------
-------------------------7-----------------------
From
the bench :
Lahm
by Jansen (46th min.). Jansen 5.
Kuranyi
for Hitzlsperger (58).
Gomez
for Klose (79).
Xabi
Alonso for Fabregas (63).
Cazorla
for Silva (66).
Güiza
for Torres (78).
referee
: Rosetti 7.
Match
: 16/20.
(1-0
for Spain, Torres).
Team
Stats :
Shots
: 4 - 13
On
target : 3 - 7
CK.
: 4 - 7
Fouls
: 22 - 19
Off-sides
: 5 - 4
Poss.
: 33'15'' - 33'12''
Highlighted
player : Senna. The short comment refers to Aragones at the same time
as the one who had the good idea to naturalize him. On Senna, in
gross : wonderful combination of finesse and power.
In
the semi-finals RUS-SPA, the highlighted player was Fabregas. He
entered the pitch after 35 min of play instead of Villa and gave 2
assists (2-0 by Güiza then 3-0 by Silva, final score. Xavi had
scored the opener at the 50th, assisted by Iniesta).
Fabregas
had the best rating with 7 étoiles, like his teammates Iniesta and
Ramos.
The
best-rated Russian player was Zhirkov with 6 étoiles.
Totals
: 58 against 73.
ETOILES
(outfield players) :
1.
Podolski 37
2.
Iniesta 36
3.
Ballack 35
4.
Lahm, Senna 34
6.
Zhirkov 33
7.
Torres, Xavi, Pavlyuchenko 32
10.
Klose, Silva, Semak, Zyrianov, Altintop 31
15.
Metzelder 30
ETOILES
(goalkeepers) :
1.
Lehmann, Casillas 32
3.
Buffon 27
4.
Akinfeev 26
5.
Ricardo 22
6.
Sar, Boruc, Lobont, Isaksson 29
10.
Pletikosa 17
FF
TEAM OF THE TOURNAMENT
:
-------------------------Casillas-------------------------
---Ramos------Puyol-----------Pepe--------Zhirkov
--------------------------Senna---------------------------
-----------Altintop--------------------Modric------------
----Schweinsteiger----Villa---------Silva-------------
"Team
made by taking in account the classement des étoiles as well as our
special reporters' observations at pages...".
The
following is about these
pages were FF ranks the players by position (top 5) and also lists
the disappointments.
FF
TOP 5 by POSITION (using
quotation marks will not mean that it will be always complete quotes
from the article but it will be almost complete, all the essential
remarks will be there).
KEEPERS
:
"Casillas
and the others"
1.
Casillas
2.
Van der Sar
3.
Buffon
4.
Boruc
5.
Akinfeev
"Casillas
never looked as strong as now at 27 years old. If he could have done
better against Sweden on the Ibrahimovic's goal, the Spanish captain
has dominated the rest of the competition reassuring his team with
his catchings of the ball and his astonishing reflexes. In the Q-F's
he won by 2 saves to 1 in the pso against Buffon. He always dives on
the right side. Then against Russia he made a spectacular horizontal
save on a Pavlyuchenko's attempt.
Behind
him, it has to be the experienced and hard-wearing Van der Sar always
solid and assured like against Italy of Toni and France of
Benzema.
Buffon
knew a little alert on a shot by Senna by releasing the ball onto his
post but Italy would have probably not go through the first round if
he had not saved a pk of Mutu with the hand and the foot against
Romania.
Boruc,
then, was the winner of a dozen of face-to-face with German, Austrian
or Croatian strikers.
At
last the Russian Akinfeev, in spite of 7 goals conceded against Spain
has contributed to the good tournament of his team.
The
old Turkish goalkeeper Rüstü, sub at the start of the tourney could
have featured in this ranking thanks to his Q-F against Croatia
during which he gave an assist for the Semih Sentürk's equalizer at
the last second before to stop the pk of Petric. But his failed
aerial intervention in front of Klose in the next round broke the
magic."
The
disappointments :
"If
Germany reached the final, it's not thanks to Lehmann who is not
beyond reproach on the two goals conceded to Turkey. But the biggest
blow in the tournament shall go to Cech who precipitated the Czech
Republic's elimination by releasing a slippery ball in the feet of
the Turk Nihat."
SIDE-BACKS
:
"Huge
Zhirkov"
1.
Zhirkov
2.
Sabri
3.
Pranjic
4.
Lahm
5.
Sergio Ramos
"He's
the other Russian revelation of the tournament and given his age (25
years in August) he may have as much or even more offers than
Arshavin. Lined-up at left-back by Hiddink, Zhirkov has rolled over
the Greeks, Swedes and Dutches by his incessant courses, his calls
for the ball, his dribbles, his crosses. Always in the right tempo,
always pin-point technically and physically huge. But his big
defensive difficulties against Spain underlined the obviousness : he
is not a real left back.
The
Turk Sabri makes the ranking almost for one single match (Ger-Tur
3-2), but his defensive and offensive performance in the S-F's was so
huge that it is impossible to forget him.
The
Croatian Pranjic, partner of Modric in the combinations also made his
name by his finesse and his accelerations though he often had trouble
to finish his matches.
The
German Lahm, filled his role with determination. He has suffered
against the Turks but his mental made the difference at the end of
the match and his goal saved his team. However, his responsabilty is
involved on the goal of Torres in the final.
At
last, the Spanish Sergio Ramos has made talk his experience, his
solidity but also his talent by having a nice offensive match against
Russia.
We
could have cited Corluka as well, the twin of Pranjic on the right
side or the Lyonnais Fabio Grosso, one of the few Italians who did
not disappoint."
Disappointments
:
"Marcell
Jansen struggled completely. Sagnol did not have the physique to play
such a competition and Abidal never entered the competition.
Seitaridis was far from his level of 2004. Bosingwa was not the
announced star. The Czech leader of Milan AC Jankulovski could not
avoid the mental explosion of his team against the Turks."
CENTRAL
DEFENDERS :
"The
class of Pepe"
1.
Pepe
2.
Puyol
3.
Chiellini
4.
Marchena
5.
R. Kovac
"Amongst
the favorites, Portugal stopped in the quarter-finals. One player was
not unworthy though. Cristiano Ronaldo? No, Pepe, the Real Madrid's
defender. Always well positioned, intransigent in the duels,
reassuring and precise in the first pass, the Portuguese was one of
the rare of his team, with Deco, to hold his own.
Difficult
to not talk in this ranking about the complementarity and efficiency
of the Spanish Pair Puyol-Marchena. Combavity and ardour of the first
and rigor and sobriety of the second. Together they muzzled the
Italian Toni and closed the Russians Pavlyuchenko and Arshavin
down.
The
Italian Chiellini features in the revelations of this Euro as well.
The young defender of Juve, who plays lateal in club, has benifited
from the injury of the captain Cannavaro - of which he is
inadvertendly responsible - and of the Materazzi's fail against The
Nethelands in order to imose himself in the Italian back-line. With
him, Italy took only one goal against Romania, France and Spain.
The
two Croatian central defenders, Kovac and Simunic equally rocked, in
spite of some slowness whereas the Russian Kolodine, redoubtable
against The Netherlands, missed a lot to his team in the
semi-finals".
Disappointments
:
Finalists
of the last World Cup, the italian Materazzi and the French Thuram
swallowed water against the Dutch strikers' liveliness. Both began
the tournament as starters and ended it on the bench. Without being
catastrophic, the Greeks Dellas and Kyrgiakos did not provide to the
outgoing champion the same defensive serenity as in 2004.
DEFENSIVE
MIDFIELDERS :
"Senna,
the cornerstone"
1.
Senna
2.
Altintop
3.
Semak
4.
De Rossi
5.
Frings
"The
Spanish Makelele, positionned before the defense, was the cornerstone
of the system Aragones. Tireless cleaner, bringing up the ball, he's
the man of the first impulse. A big heart, a beautiful vision of the
game, a resistance that often made him finish the games better than
he started it : the Villareal player reaveled himself at this
level.
The
Turk Altintop is the true playmaker of his team. Elegant, able to
switch from right back to defensive midfielder, and to finish the
games as a playmaker, his work-rate, his vision of the game, his
tactical sense and his technique have impressed.
The
Russian Semak, former PSG player, for his part has played with sense
of positionning, with anticipation, the quality of the first pass and
his ability to efficiently participate in the offensives in order to
realize a great tourney.
De
Rossi brang coherence and solidity to the Italian game.
At
last Torsten Frings, protector of Ballack in the first games, then
absent during 2 games and half through injury, came back at the end
of the race in order to hold an essential role.
We
could have cited the tall Dutch man Orlando Engelaar as well,
magnificient of power and of combativness in the first round, but he
sank in front of the Russians.
At
last the Greek Angelos Basinas, fluid player and combative, is the
only representant from the champions 2004 who was able to extricate
himself".
Disappointments
:
Firstly,
obviously Patrick Vieira, who did not play a single minute and
cruelly missed to "Les Bleus". Toulalan was for his part a
bit just physically so he could not avoid that his game looked
muddled. Pirlo had no more fuel. Lining up Chivu, the Romanian
captain, at a midfielder position, it's spoiling the goods of a
superb central defender. Tobias Linderoth, the Swede, announced as
the leader of his team, did not play. Hardly more terrible appraisal
than the one of the Lyonnais Källström.
OFFENSIVE
MIDFIELDERS :
"Modric,
brilliant artist"
1.
Modric
2.
Schweinsteiger
3.
Silva
4.
Podolski
5.
Sneijder
"Contrarly
to Arshvin, the Cruyff of the Balkans managed to have a series of
games. Big presence, perfect tehnique, Modric always plays
frontwards, makes the good choices and bring some speed to the game
of a team that sometimes lacks of it a bit. He's the only Croatian to
play most of the time in one touch. Difficult to dissociate the two
German players of sides, the buddies "Poldi" and
"Schweini", as percussive as efficient as much as the
other. Both were the big men of the Mannschaft's run in the
competition. With them, David Silva, the will-o-the-wisp on the left
side, percussive and combative. Wesley Sneijder, for his part, has
embodied the great Dutch first round thanks to his technique, his
presence, his art of the set-pieces. We could have considered that
the great performance of Deco in the first half against Germany could
have been rewarded better. He's still the mastermind of Portugal. The
Russian Zyrianov is the accomplice of Arshavin in national team as at
Zenit St.-Petersburgh, but he get busted against Spain in the
semi-finals.
The
Turk Tuncay realized high-leveled performances, physically it's a
player who makes his opponent suffer. Rafael van der Vaart has also
shown his class and his sense of the game. At last, we have to
mention the case Ballack, who became a mental leader, and moral, but
who is less influent on the pitch in spite of his important
goals".
Disappointments
:
"The
Italian Perrotta traversed the tournament like a shadow. A bit like
the Greek Karagounis, so good in 2004. The Portuguese Simao doesn't
play the essential role that could be his. The Austrian Ivanschitz is
not the half of the announced star. We did not find back the the
Malouda of 2006 and Franck Ribéry - best French - was
ill-fated".
STRIKERS
:
"Villa,
the most consistent"
1.
Villa
2.
Pavlyuchenko
3.
Torres
4.
Arshavin
5.
Klose
"In
Spain, one striker can hide another. Whilst Europe was expecting
Torres, she has most of all seen , before the final, David Villa. The
scorer of Valencia began spectacularly the tourney. 4 goals in 2
matches : a hat-trick against Russia and the winner against Sweden.
Beyond that? An incessant pressing on the opponents' defenses, a real
complicity with Torres, some gestures of class, but an unfortunate
injury against Russia...
The
Russian Pavlyuchenko, him, has scored one goal less than Villa, but
he has weighted as much on the defenses. In spite of his big carcass,
that makes him looking clumsy, the Spartak player shined with his
deflections with the head, his technique with both feet, his dribbles
and his shots en force or in finesse. If Torres was discreet during a
long time, he was on the other hand decisive in the final, riding
roughshod over Lahm and Lehmann in order to scor the only goal of the
game. The Russian Arshavin has proven in two games, against Sweden
and -most of all - The Netherlands, that he was maybe intrinsically
the best of all. But if the new star of St.-Petersburgh had real
screen presence in the quarter-finals (1 goal, 1 assist), he has
completely missed his semi-final against Spain. Some valued assets
like Klose, van Nistelrooy or even Irahimovic, the authors of 2 goals
each, were true to their reputation. Special bonus, at last, for the
Turks Nihat and Semih Sentürk. The double of the first against the
Czech Republic has propulsed his team in the quarter-finals and the
goal of the second against Croatia has allowed them to qualify to the
semi-finals"
Disppointments
:
"We
were expecting Toni and Benzema, the top scorers of the German and
French leagues. They finished up with 0 goals and a boatload of
missed chances, most of all the Italian. Cristiano Ronaldo, who's
amongst the favorites in the course for the next Ballon d'Or FF, has
disappointed him too. The Portuguese has not played badly, he was
just ordinary, which, for a player like him, comes to the same thing."
A
few complementary notes taken from the short profiles of the 23
Spaniards : in view of the said "profiles", most of the players of La Roja had their best game
against Russia in the Semi-finals. Xavi and Iniesta had a difficult
match against Italy in the quarter-finals so the the whole Spanish
team was less good on this match. The "marathonian" David
Silva, "unheralded" prior to the tournament "has shown why
Aragones swear by him since several months : he's the one who
energizes the Spanish team's game". Cazorla, "was an intermittent of
choice that Aragones launched generally in the second half instead of
Xavi or Iniesta in order to brang a bit more of percussion to his
team". Puyol "reigned in the Spanish penalty area".
