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Sneijder: Topped the ratings after some stand-out displays for the Dutch
With Euro 2008 done and dusted, we have inspected your Player Ratings to hail who's hot and shame who's not in Austria and Switzerland.
And so the velvet curtain drapes over what has been a marvellous tournament, meaning now is the time to wrap-up our 'Hot or Not' feature which has seen the busy bees sift through your ratings in a bid to formulate the star XI of the round that matches our readers' feelings.
This shiny new edition has a twist, though, in that we have averaged all the submitted scores to culminate who were the conclusively, sweltering hot individuals that set Euro 2008 aflame, while ensuring those that had a blinder followed by a stinker miss out.
Top of the tree, king of the castle and general stand-out mean-rating leader is Holland schemer Wesley Sneijder, at a score of 8.7, following his cracking showing at Austria and Switzerland, where the midfielder tallied two goals and as many assists to fully justify the multi-million pound fee Real Madrid paid Ajax to guarantee his services last summer.
The prize of the competition's second-best player, according to our users, is shared between Poland shot-stopper Artur Boruc and Dutch winger Arjen Robben, who both landed tallies of 8.3 to fit snugly in our goalkeeper and left-midfield berths respectively.
Boruc, currently contracted to SPL champions Celtic, pips the likes of Iker Casillas and Edwin van der Sar to secure your No.1 jersey after three terrific displays in the group stages that showed off his reflexes but failed to help his side progress.
Meanwhile, Robben - another Real player - caught your eye, despite making just two appearances during Holland's rampage in the 'Group of Death', as he laid on one goal against the miserable French before firing past goalkeeper Gregory Coupet from the tightest of tight angles.
The remaining attacking centre-midfield position is filled by creative spark Cesc Fabregas after he landed a grade of 8.2 to shrug off fierce competition from Euro 2008 final colleague Xavi and surprise package Andrei Arshavin - who paid the price for his anonymity in the semi-final against Spain when he received a score of 4.6 - eek!
Further panache is added via the inclusion of Tottenham Hotspur-bound Luka Modric, who rids any Spurs fans of the furrowed brows that met the £16.6million spent on the Croatian after three spicy performances that demonstrated his pure talent and ability to cut the mustard at the highest level.
Gritty, bullish steel completes the five-man midfield in the form of Spain's enforcer Marcos Senna. The 31-year-old Villarreal player was rewarded with a no-nonsense 7.9 after a number of gutsy performances ensured Luis Aragones' side were allowed to express themselves to the maximum.
In defence, Giovanni van Bronckhorst shone after his innumerable marauding surges forward contributed greatly to Holland's early-tournament gusto, while he is partnered alongside compatriot Khalid Boulahrouz - whose commanding performances did much to overlay memories of the rocky first season he had at Chelsea in 2006/07.
In truth, other glowing ratings of defenders were hard to come by; therefore Spain right-back Sergio Ramos, who was strong and mostly consistent throughout, lands the final defensive slot with a hardly whopping score of seven.
Up front, there will be few surprises that golden boot winner David Villa - whose four strikes have reportedly landed him a whole host of interest from numerous European clubs - was pick of the strikers as he claimed an impressive average of eight out 10.
And it is Ruud van Nistelrooy that completes your hot starting XI of Euro 2008 after the Real striker bagged two goals in three games while showing his quality outside the box with some excellent link-up play.
Lastly, it seems only right to name and shame those that had a shocker of a summer. Bottom of our pile is a French twosome in the form of Nicolas Anelka and Bafetimbi Gomis following Les Bleus' dreadful outing at Austria and Switzerland. Anelka was handed a 3.4, while Gomis a 3.2.
So there we have it. Firstly, a big thank you for all your ratings - be sure to continue your hard work when the new season gets back under way. And finally, we welcome your musings on the above graphic and wordery. Do you agree with how the averages have panned out? Or have you been left fuming at the exclusion of your personal player of the tournament? Let us know via the form below.
Comments
Hidayat Razak (Liverpool fan) says...
Other than the goals he scored, Villa didn't really make an impact in the tournament. And 3 of those 4 came against Russia although I salute him for scoring that sublime last minute goal against Sweden. I would prefer Podolski. The goals he scored were just mouth-watering. And his pace and team-play was excellent. Senna is a player who really impressed everyone. He was slightly unknown at Villareal and not many would have predicted him to make an impact like that. The way he did it so calmly is just a pleasure to watch. By far, the best anchorman in this tournament. Boulahrouz shouldn't really be in the team sheet. There are still Puyol and Carlos Marchena who did a great job for Spain. Carvalho, who hardly puts a foot wrong. Emre Asik and Servet are both no-nonsense defenders which any team would like. Robben shouldn't be there either. The moment people wanna watch him play more, he disappoints the audience and gets injured again. Where was he when Holland needed him in the Quarter-Final? Arshavin, although he was marked out of the game against the Spaniards, had a tremendous couple of games before that. Great playmaker. Sad that he was suspended for the first 2 games. Otherwise, we wouldn't have known what he has up his sleeves against the Greeks and the Spaniards.
Posted 09:44 2nd July 2008
Chris Salamone (Manchester United fan) says...
I can't believe no one mentions Chiellini. He came into a weak and broken Italian defense after being snubbed for the first disastrous game against the Dutch, and single-handedly kept out Torres and Villa in the Quarter Final. Dispute this if you like with your more fashionable choices, but if you watch the game highlights again, you'll see that its his foot on the end of every vital tackle and interception. As the Spanish coach said himself, Italy provided the sternest test for his winning side, and Chiellini was the reason for this. If Italy can take one thing from a mediocre Euros (a quarter final penalty shoot-out exit to the winners, after emerging from the group of death, is far from dreadful) it's that they have found a young man to fill Cannavaro's boots. Juve have a bright young gem in their defense, and no one (especially in England) even knew it.
Posted 09:05 2nd July 2008
Dennis Rimberia (Eastleigh fan) says...
Yes, i agree Ballack deserves a special spot on the team and i think Torres should have come in for Villa. 5Dutch players and 4Spanish players yet the Dutch 'flattered' and the Spaniards pulled it together when it 'mattered'
Posted 07:18 1st July 2008
Paddy Concannon (Arsenal fan) says...
Boruc ? Casilias surely deserves the award? Sergio Ramos (definatley),Boulahrouz (Yes, great man marker, really performed well, after a shaky season at Stamford B),Van Bronchorst (good choice), Philip Lahm should be there, ok, he messed up in teh final, but it was an easy mistake, he was relying on Lhman,to win hte ball, he was inspirational in hislink up play through-out and amazing Vs Turkey, Modric(im sorry, i just dont see it, ok great on the ball, and nice opening penalty, but didnt make a huge impact on any game for me,) fabregas (ofcourse!! ) Senna, (did his job well, playing with such a good offence, he covered well for the wingbacks ) Sneidjer(only player i was disapointed to see go home, amazing on teh ball, great things to come from this star) Robben (once again, was mediocre at best for me, amazing goal, but not much else) schweinstiger not mentioned? criminal in my opinion, i dont mean with relevance to his goals, but performance in full, played amazing, only one for germany in the final that wanted it! and ribery was good for france in my opinion, although its easy to forget the eliminated ! Villa, ( well goes without saying, golded boots and lets hope he recovers and enjoys his trophy, cause deserves it every bit) Van Nistelrooy, (played very well, and in my opinion proved his title as the dutch hitman, over the hill? clear to say hes relaxing ontop !) Podolski? surely worth a mention, played very well in group stages , along with his versatility makes him my second choice forward, Great Tournament, and amazing performances by evey team, i think its safe to say that no one was a walk over, even the host nations who had been deemed as "guarantee'd wins" stuck it to the big teams and did there countries proud in my opinion, my 3 favorites of the tourament were Fabregas . inspirational off the bench, Sneijder . unreal Schweinstiger . showed his worth!
Posted 03:00 1st July 2008
Jim Brown (Celtic fan) says...
Spain were by far the best team in the competition ,so good to see them finally get their regional problems sorted .Watch them go in the world cup ,my favourites as they will grow together as a team to be reckoned with
Posted 22:26 30th June 2008
Gareth Jenkins (Manchester United fan) says...
The Russians were a joy to watch for me, who will showcase their talents again in the world cup. Roman Pavlyuchenko was superb, in front of andrei arshavin. And the 2 full backs Yuri Zhirkov and Aleksandr Anyukov attacked the wings better than anyone else in the tournament. I would happily see any of these names on the back of a united shirt.
Posted 21:53 30th June 2008
Sean mcguigan Mcguigan (Celtic fan) says...
Boruc deserves to be on this team! if it were not for his brilliance v austria, poland would have been detroyed. He derserves alot of credit. Definately proved he is in the top 5 in the world!
Posted 21:51 30th June 2008
Mike Christian (Liverpool fan) says...
Marco Senna was the best player at his position at the European Championship...he was a player that not many spoke about but was definitely a player in his prime and the enforcer in midfield. he reminde me of a younger Makalele when he dominated for soo long for France and Real Madrid. he has done well for Chelsea but Senna is the unsung hero for Spain as he allowed Cesc, Xavi, Iniesta & Silva the freedom and space to dissect the opposing teams. He is in the top three holding midfielders in the world at present.
Posted 21:26 30th June 2008
Malachy Gallagher (Chelsea fan) says...
I know how well Fabregas played, but if Ballack should be their instead of him, as Cesc didn't play that much even though his performances where very good when he did. The only reason I feel Casillias isn't in the team is he wasn't troubled much apart from the penalty shoot-out
Posted 18:48 30th June 2008
John Jackson (Chelsea fan) says...
In a simple sentence 'Ballack's performance was legendary'. Even though he never won it, but the fact is he is undisputably the real Captain Genius in the tournament. No He was the reason Germany ever got to the final, no disrespect to the team. For me Captain Ballack's unleashed every arms in his barrack but his army was no good for the attack and neither were they even average for the defence. Without much word Ballack was the uncrowned King of the tournament. But no need for worries because with Chelsea he is definitely bound to great success and acheivements.
Posted 16:45 30th June 2008
Ze Kahn (Arsenal fan) says...
Ballack and Xavi were one of the key players. And Robben should be replaced by Arshavin.
Posted 16:27 30th June 2008
Bora Yashar (Tottenham Hotspur fan) says...
Hey guys, I don't believe that none of the turkish national team wasn't selected in this as they played as good as and if not better than the germans, french, russian and cech's. They out played germany in the semi's and were very unfortunate to be beaten and i believe they would have given us a better final than what germany did. With fifa going back on the what they did in 1996 for germany by not allowing turkey to call up any spare players. I believe there was alot of contraversy regarding the turks and how well they did.
Posted 16:21 30th June 2008
John Wright (Manchester City fan) says...
Great tournament, no big build up about Englands Golden Era, no excessive commercial endulgence selling shirts and flags, no England fans locked up or trashing another European city and no let down by over hyped players like Owen, Beckham and Gerrard. The facts are England are light years behind Spain, Germany and even Holland. These teams play as a team, are always in control of the ball and quality controls the game. Not long ball, kick and rush and sound bites like "good from box to box". Give me someone who can control a ball and pass it 5 yards. Would Iniesta get in the England team - No. Does he have a European Winners Medal - YES.
Posted 16:12 30th June 2008
Chris Clee (Southampton fan) says...
It was a great shame that Turkey didn't get the chance to challenge the final, as I feel it could have been a different story - and also my £10 bet would have been a good one! I thought that the Germans have been lucky throughout the tournament - even losing 1v0 in the final was a lucky score for them!
Posted 15:57 30th June 2008
Hiyumi Lawrence (Liverpool fan) says...
Ferrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrnando Torrrrrrrrrrrrrrres!!!!! The kid is going to go down as a legend of the game. Best striker in the world atm in this yanks opinion.
Posted 15:23 30th June 2008
Nick James (AFC Telford United fan) says...
france past it. italy need some youth. holland/turkey very good. enjoyed the swiss. senna was player of the tournament - without him xavi and the others wdnt have been able to mount the attacks they did. great player! respek to fabregas too - he's class.
Posted 14:43 30th June 2008
Peter Kim (Manchester United fan) says...
i believe that ballack needs to be mentioned after his terrific solo display that helped germany to the final. He was definitely the key to germany's overall success in the tournament.
Posted 14:38 30th June 2008
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