Liverpool FC Forum

[The Manhattan Project]

I bet her name is Heidi, or Hannah.

[bunglemark2]

I'm delighted Spain won.....though curiously enough, I did kinda half-want Germany to win from the start....

[Bad Bob]

Xavi's been named player of the tournament.  A fair shout, at the end of the day, IMO but not a runaway winner by any means.  In fact, there could have been a few candidates from Spain, with Senna perhaps the unsung player of the tournament.  Nice to see Ronaldo didn't even make the squad of the tournament!


XAVI TOP EURO 2008 STAR
Posted 30/06/08 10:14
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Spain midfielder Xavi has been named the best player at Euro 2008.

The 28-year-old Barcelona player, the heartbeat of Spain's midfield during the tournament, was voted the Castrol player of the tournament by a nine-strong panel of UEFA's technical experts.

There was no place for Cristiano Ronaldo in the 23-man squad of the tournament however.

The squad did include Manchester United keeper Edwin van der Sar, Michael Ballack and Jose Bosingwa from Chelsea, Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas, Liverpool striker Fernando Torres, and Spurs-bound midfielder Luka Modric.

UEFA technical director Andy Roxburgh explained Ronaldo's absence was due to the fact Portugal did not progress further in the tournament.

Roxburgh said: This is entirely about the tournament and not about reputations or how well you started.

"Of course he was mentioned - and if Portugal had gone further, there's no argument he has been in this group because he's a fantastic player.

"He was in our Champions League all-star squad for the season, and the beginning of the tournament he threatened he was going to be in this one.

"But then it came abruptly to an end. When it comes to a squad of the tournament, those that go to semis and final dominate things like this."

Nine of the 23 players in the squad of the tournament were Spanish, but Roxburgh said Xavi stood out.

He added: "We think he epitomised the Spanish style of play - he was extremely influential.

"We are not all that surprised, because for more than a decade now the top youth teams in Europe have been Spanish and we have been watching Xavi and others in this squad from a very young age.

"Torres scored the winner in a youth final, and Fabregas was the star of the under-17s. In this tournament, Fabregas' influence in the periods when he did play was extremely significant."

Roxburgh added that Torres has proved himself one of the top players in Europe.

"Clearly he's a match-winner - he's a fantastic front player - very fast, powerful, brave and he's a finisher. His movement is excellent as well," said Roxburgh.

"To say anyone is the best player in the world is a difficult one, but he is one of the big talents we have in European football."

He also singled out Germany captain Ballack for praise.

"Ballack was a major influence on Germany all the way to the final and he scored the best set-play goal of the competition with his free-kick against Austria," said Roxburgh.

SQUAD OF THE TOURNAMENT

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Italy), Iker Casillas (Spain), Edwin van der Sar (Netherlands).

Defenders: Bosingwa (Portugal), Philipp Lahm (Germany), Carlos Marchena (Spain), Pepe (Portugal), Carles Puyol (Spain), Yuri Zhirkov (Russia).

Midfielders: Hamit Altıntop (Turkey), Luka Modrić (Croatia), Marcos Senna (Spain), Xavi Hernandez (Spain), Konstantin Zyryanov (Russia), Michael Ballack (Germany), Cesc Fabregas (Spain), Andres Iniesta (Spain), Lukas Podolski (Germany), Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands).

Forwards: Andrei Arshavin (Russia), Roman Pavlyuchenko (Russia), Fernando Torres (Spain), David Villa (Spain).

365 LINK

[JoeTerp]

surprised that Fabregas made it, most of his appearances were off the bench.

[bunglemark2]

I'd personally cheer this girl up. Lovely, even in defeat!

Surely there is justification for a thread dedicated to Top Totty from Euro2008 ?

Let those amongst you who are letches post to your heart's content....

I'll be sitting here in anticipation rubbing my knees like Reeves and Mortimer...

[The Manhattan Project]

If anyone wants to know why English players don't seem to have the heart for international football, Fergie's interview (while playing golf) offers an insight.

They asked him whether he'd watched EURO 2008.

He said "I dinna watch it....I saw a fewww gimms onlahhh"


And that's the attitude these Premiership club managers have towards internationals.

"They don't matter. Club comes first. Nation doesn't matter. Just don't get injured!"

[RUSHIE#9]

Just watching the team's homecoming on the spanish channel on SKY (Ch795) can't understand a fecking word of it!!
They're showing clips from on board the plane. Reina is climbing up on the seats whipping the squad and everyone up! They've got the stewardess' doing the Macarena whilst they're supposed to be doing the safety procedures!!! 

[Sabre]

surprised that Fabregas made it, most of his appearances were off the bench.

Yet another example of how players are more important than formations. During the qualification we used the same formation than in the final, yet, Torres' season and Villa's form changed that and we changed to an unusual 4-4-2.

But once Villa injured, the most logical thing is to come back to the most used system... and with the best player for it, Fabregas. It makes sense, because a 4-4-2 with Guiza is not better than a 4-1-4-1 with Fabregas, because the players are the most important thing. Systems? they help to get the best out of players, and if you dominate a wide range of variants even the better -- despite cohesion and all that.

Before Bigmick comes here answering promptly to that, I'll also acknowledge the notion that's been important in Spain: count on a block of players when they're doing well. Even I, with my Liverpool bias I'm able to admit that Senna could not be dropped, even if he's not a better player IMHO. In fact, when you haven't a game every 3 days the best thing is to change the team as little as possible.

[JoeTerp]

not what I meant Sabre, he was a sure thing to be in the XI for the final, I mean to make the all tournament team it was a surprise to me. I think you could argue that Kuyt or Nihat did more.

[Bad Bob]

not what I meant Sabre, he was a sure thing to be in the XI for the final, I mean to make the all tournament team it was a surprise to me. I think you could argue that Kuyt or Nihat did more.

Sure, Joe, there's all kinds of cases that could have been made for this player over that player.  But, there's always going to be a bias in favour of teams that get to the final, and especially for the Champs.  And, Fabregas was huge for Spain in the SF against Russia.

The one that surprised me was Buffon ahead of Casillas.  Sure, he saved that penalty against Romania to keep Italy in the competition but there was a sense that that just delayed the inevitable.  Casillas kept 3 clean sheets in the knockout round, had one of the saves of the tournament to deny Camoranesi from open play and then saved 2 Italian penalties.  IMO, he should have been keeper of the tournament.

(BTW, on the subject of Casillas...what in the hell was he booked for yesterday?  From what I could see he was doing the proper thing as captain--waving his players away before having a quiet word with the ref about a decision.  Rosetti had a Steve Bennett moment there, it would seem. )

[Sabre]

Sorry I misunderstood, Joe. To be honest, between you and me, I don't give much importance to those MOM and Mo Tournament awards. It's a thing that has been imported from America and football never worked that way. It's the fans who decide who's man of the tournament. And in year 2050, what it will be remembered is Casillas' stops, and Torres goal, who'll be remembered like the goal of Marcelino in 1964. The moments and players that history remembers, are not set by UEFA, it's the football itself. Torres right now, is a step beyond Raul, Salinas, Kiko, Butragueño, and all the strikers that preceded him.

On the book of Casillas, it was an obvious case of not having the balls to just card Ballack. They deserved more cards than the ones they got. In international football Bad Bob, there are bigger and smaller teams aswell. And Germany is bigger than Spain in terms of ref intimidation and history. I know it's controversial, but it's what I think. And it's even more notticeable in the world cup where refs from Asia and Africa have done historical scandals.

[Sabre]

Fernando Torres is about to speak to 46 million of SPaniards.

Fernando Torres hasn't done a hell of a speech, he said thanks, and left the micro to Fabregas.

Fabregas is boring too. Unless Reina comes, this is gonna be boring

Pepe gets the micro!!

Pepe holds the micro and is gonna introduce every player as if they were boxers. 

Pepe is liking it.

Pepe is on some sort of trance.

[JoeTerp]

Even before that incident I think Ballack deserved a booking for 5 or 6 a tackles that had a bit of deliberate intention to them that we just a little too late and right on the standing foot. Maybe one by themselves or even two would be ok but he did it throughout the game.

[Bad Bob]

Sabre, I'm not surprised there was a double booking in that incident but surely they could have given it to Marchena (who was actually involved)?   That said, I wasn't really complaining at the time, since the card was far more likely to be a bother to a defender than it was to a keeper.  I just felt bad for Casillas who acted appropriately.

[Sabre]

Even before that incident I think Ballack deserved a booking for 5 or 6 a tackles that had a bit of deliberate intention to them that we just a little too late and right on the standing foot. Maybe one by themselves or even two would be ok but he did it throughout the game.

It was a sign of frustration. He's a Chelsea player. A big team player isn't used usually to feel dominated nor to chase the ball. Usually they're used to see their rivals chasing him. And when you feel that way kicks come, should Spain had scored a second, it wouldn't have been strange to see  a nasty red card tackle.

Germany didn't run as much as their reputation tells about them.

Italy, instead, did. Their did their stuff right and they could have perfectly get away with it. And made Spain suffer a lot more than any other team.

Germany did harm to Spain with their industrious football in the first 20 mins, with their dynamic use of wings. But, they didn't hold that rythm, they didn't run as much as they're supposed to. And they lost control of the game.