GK Artur Boruc (Poland) - A strange choice perhaps, given Poland's rather abject elimination from the tournament in its early stages, but it would be a boring article if I just assigned a Spanish player to ever position. Besides, Spain’s Iker Casillas was rarely tested in the latter stages, penalty shoot out against Italy aside, while of the other goalkeeping stars, Italy's Gigi Buffon let in three against the Dutch, while The Czech Republic's Petr Cech contributed to his own country's spectacular demise against Turkey by dropping a comfortable cross for the Turkish equaliser. Boruc is here because his performance in goal for Poland against Austria was possibly the individual performance of the tournament. Time and again Poland's rickety defence let Austria walk through them, and time and again Boruc denied them what seemed a certain goal. Sadly, his efforts were in vain, thanks to a late Austrian penalty and Poland's inability to make any impact against the bigger sides, but he still merits his place here.
RB Vedran Corluka (Croatia) - A difficult one to assign, this position. Sergio Ramos was brilliant in attack for Spain, but his defensive work was often a horror show. Meanwhile, it is only right that a Croatian player makes it in somewhere, and the industrious Corluka was as good as any of the players in their side. He helped his side to a magnificent victory over Germany in the group stages, and was unfortunate to see their hopes end in the shoot out defeat to Turkey. Destined to be another forgotten hero, Corluka is here with some considerable merit.
CB Denis Kolodin (Russia) - A powerful leader of the Russian backline, Kolodin was as humbled as anyone else by Russias thrashing at the hands of Spain in their opening game, and after that he improved immeasurably, dragging the rest of the Russian back four up with him. His absence for the crucial game against Spain in the semi finals went a long way to explaining the ramshackle defensive performance offered by Russia in that match.
CB Servet Cetin (Turkey) - He may have only played in Turkey's three group games after becoming one of the many Turkish players beset by injury in the finals, but the man known as Ayibogan by the Turkish fans (translated literally as "a man who could choke a bear") played through the pain barrier with a heavily strapped knee in Turkey's crucial game against Switzerland, played in awful wet conditions. Added to that heroic performance, he played again in their final, thrilling win over the Czechs despite having sat a university exam that morning. A true legend.
LB Giovanni Van Bronckhorst (Netherlands) - Perhaps not quite the best defensive left back in the world, or even in this tournament, but he merits inclusion for his gifts to the attacking play that the Dutch brought to the tournament. And he is certainly not deficient at defending either. He was influential in the second Dutch goal against Italy, carving out the breakaway after having cleared the ball off the goal line moments earlier from an Italy chance. Maybe there were more resolute defenders in their own sides back line, but in a tournament that was all about attacking, it is right that Van Bronckhorst gets his place here.
RW Xavi Hernandez (Spain) - Ok, this is a bit of a fudge, seeing as Xavi is in no way a right winger, but what the hey, this would be a compact starting eleven, and the ability for the Spanish midfield to chop and change positions with fluidity means he probably wouldn't moan too much either. Named as the overall player of the tournament, Xavi was the heartbeat of Spain's gorgeous attacking play, and you can't help but feel a bit sorry for Cesc Fabregas, who was kept on the bench up until the final for the simple reason that no matter how well he played, Xavi was always playing better. David Silva, Spain's actual right winger, may have been a shoe-in to this position ordinarily, but his unpunished, and stupid, head butt on Lukas Podolski in the final earns him a fairly hefty black mark.
CM Marcos Senna (Spain) - If the saying goes that behind a great man is a greater woman, then behind a great Spanish attacking quintet there is a greater defensive midfielder. Despite the plethora of headline-grabbing players ahead of him, Spain quite probably owe more of their success at this tournament to Senna than to Xavi, Fabregas, Torres and Villa combined. Spain could have functioned just as well without one of their attackers, but without Senna to tirelessly mop up any opposition foray forwards, the defence may not have coped. If Casillas had little to do in the knockout stages, it was largely down to him. He may be destined to be the forgotten hero in this team of young, skilful starlets, so lets make sure we name him here to make up for it.
CM Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands) - The player of the group stages by some clear distance, he remained the only Dutch player that looked halfway capable/inclined to fashion a fightback when their tournament fell apart in the quarter finals in their defeat to Russia. His touch and vision was second to none throughout his time on the pitch, and the two goals he scored, one finishing off a brilliant counter attack and the other a dipping individual effort from 25 yards, are both contenders for goal of the tournament without a shadow of a doubt. The much underrated star of Real Madrid's title winning season in Spain last year may well find himself ignored again in the face of the Dutch failure, which would be a crying shame.
LW Yuri Zhirkov (Russia) - That the pacey winger with the slightly funny name is being linked with a potential big money move to Manchester United after his performances at this tournament is perhaps no surprise. He was faultless in Russia's magnificent wins over Sweden and the Netherlands, and although he may have struggled in the semi final against Spain, the same can be said for most of his team mates. And at least he never stopped working. His crossing was usually accurate, and the pace allowed him to leave defenders for dead more often than not. Zhirkov was every bit as vital to Russian success as the more vaunted Andrei Arshavin.
ST Semih Senturk (Turkey) - The last minute hero of Turkey against Croatia, and a man who looked like he had repeated the feat against Germany in the semi final, before Philip Lahm's ultimately heartbreaking reply. I could easily include Nihat here instead, who provided the ultimately more skilful comeback goals against the Czechs, but space in the team is at a premium, so Semih just gets the nod for the added drama of his goal against Croatia in the quarter finals, stopping the wild celebrations of Slaven Bilic hastily in their tracks.
ST Andrei Arshavin (Russia) - So nearly the man that the tournament would be remembered for. Like Van Basten in 1988, Gascoigne in 1996 and Charisteas in 2004, he should have been the poster boy, visions of his boyish, ruddy-cheeked face linked inexorably with memories of the tournament as a whole, but it wasn't quite to be. His return to the Russian side after a two game suspension inspired two of the best performances by any side all tournament, in the wins over Sweden and Russia, but in the end, he failed to live up to his billing when it mattered in the semi final, and Russias hopes ended with his influence. Despite that late blotch on his record, he still achieved more than enough to justify inclusion in this team.
And a special mention to: Gianluigi Buffon (Italy), Sabri Sarioglu (Turkey), Carlos Puyol (Spain), Tomas Ujfalusi (Czech Republic), Philip Lahm (Germany), Cesc Fabregas (Spain), Darijo Srna (Croatia), Lukas Podolski (Germany), Andreas Iniesta (Spain), Miroslav Klose (Germany), David Villa (Spain).
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