Hooray for Spain. I can only hope that I'll be able to have that sort of feeling of triumph after my country wins a major trophy that all of Spain must have felt Sunday night. Well, either that or an Oriole World Series will do, but I digress. Anyway, here's my best 11, what a tournament.
GK- Iker Casillas, He didn't have to do all that much this tournament, but how outstanding were those penalty saves? I think he bested Buffon right there, and took the title of the world's best keeper. Edwin Van der Saar gets honorable mention.
LB- Giovanni Von Brockhorst, Except for the Russia game, he had played essentially a perfect tournament. Its amazing what putting on your country's shirt can do, because he never looked to be half this player while at Barca. There were lots of other solid left backs, Zhirkov, the Croatian, but Gio gets the nod.
CB- Marchena, I kept waiting for him or Capedevilla to screw up, but it never happened. To think that Valencia had him, Villa, and Senna and were that poor is flabbergasting. He was the more confident of the two center halves this tournament, and he wasn't afraid to dribble his way out of trouble unlike the nervy Puyol.
CB- The other Kovac, I was expecting Croatia to be terrible at the back, and a lot more games like we saw against England, but I was wrong. This guy was as steadfast as they come, and he probably could have at least hit the target in their shootout with Turkey, unlike some of their better known stars. Honorable mention is the Russian Kolodin for unleashing those 50 yard daisy cutters vs Holland
RB- Sergio Ramos, Call him Jar-Jar Binks if you like, but for all his shortcomings he makes up for with his pure athleticism. He had his two best matches in the two most important games, and he only gets caught out because he's been given license to go forward because of his undeniable offensive skills. Any team would be lucky to have him. Boswinga was solid as well.
DMid- Marcos Senna, Sure defensive mids are overlooked, and its not a glamorous position, but I don't think its all that demanding either. Not to take anything away from Senna, he might be MVP of the Spanish team for the collective tournament, but if you have the energy, and are decent on the ball, this isn't all that difficult of a role to fill. I see Dirk Kuyt becoming one of these players before its all said and done. Honorable Mention is the dutch pair of Engelaar and De Jong
Attacking Mid- Andrei Arshavin Its pretty remarkable when we consider what he accomplished in three games. He's now a shoe in to sign for Barcelona or wherever. It only speaks volumes to the magnitude of this tournament because think about how good he probably was for Zenit all year long. H-mention- Xavi
RMid- Bastian Schweinsteiger He was the most dangerous German player in the knockout stages, no question. That finish against Turkey oozed of class. Its too bad that he got that red card, but it seemed to help him in the end.
LMid- Lukas Podolski He was more of a midfielder than a striker this tournament, and its impossible to think that he will remain on the Bayern bench to rott after this campaign. He looked much more dangerous than Klose, which makes me wonder. Just how good are Bayern with Klose and Toni as their goal sources. Sure its fine in the Bundesliga, but don't bet on them in Europe any time soon. Libor Sionko gets his honorable mention for being the only worthwhile Czech in the tournament.
CMid- Wesley Sneijder For a while there, it looked like the Dutch would cruise to the title with this man as the tournament MVP. But they found their bogey team in the Russians, and despite his best efforts, Sneijder couldn't find the target in that last desperate push where he had several clean looks at the Russian Goal. H-mention Van der Vaart
Striker- Fernando Torres, I guess he is the best striker in the world right now. He's got some moves in addition to his blazing speed, and he reminds me a bit of a young Thierry Henry the way he slices through not only the Premiership, but international defenses as well. I'll keep it with the countrymen theme and give Villa his honorable mention.
Let me know what you guys think, I'd like to see your opinions too.
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