Euro 2012 final and player of the tournament

Spain aim to make history on Sunday as they look to become the first side to win three consecutive international tournaments, but they will be up against a side who frustrated them in a 1-1 draw on day three of Euro 2012.

West Germany reached three consecutive finals in the 70’s, but you sense if Spain win tonight, they will go down as the greatest palette of players to ever play for a national side. This Spain side is not the all conquering side of Euro 2008 though. The efforts of the last four years seem to be catching up with the team (especially the Barcelona players) and their performance against Portugal was one of their least convincing in recent tournaments.

Their passing accuracy was down at (just) 75% against Portugal and Spain look like a long-distance runner desperately trying to make the finishing line. Performances have not yet peaked, but if Spain manage to grind out a 1-0 win it will have been a virtuoso lesson in monopolising possession and dominating games.

I didn’t think I’d say this two months ago after he blazed a penalty into the Allianz Arena to hand Bayern a spot in the Champions League final, but Sergio Ramos has arguably been the standout performer for Spain. Returning to centre-back the 26-year-old has covered for Carlos Puyol with all the gusto and passion that we are used to from the Barcelona captain. Neither player is the most technically proficient, but they will attack the ball and are incredibly committed defenders.

The Panenka penalty that Ramos coolly despatched past Rui Patricio, was sublime and suggested that the defender has spent the last two months practising penalties (or at least watching Pirlo). Spain don’t have a striker, and other than Busquets none of their midfielders has really impressed in Poland and Ukraine. Ramos has been part of a Spain side that has conceded just one goal and has made some superb individual contributions leading the way from the more established Pique.

UEFA and FIFA seem to have an instinctive predisposition to look away from defenders when awarding their player of the tournament, but if any defender deserves the accolade it is Ramos, who in the space of three weeks has matured incredibly, from the young man who already holds the red-card record at Madrid, into an international standard centre back.

In contrast to the burnt out Spanish, Italy look to be finding form at the right time and have produced two sensational displays in the quarters and semi-final. The Juventus inspired defence has been resolute and Andrea Pirlo, flanked excellently by two midfield dynamos De Rossi and Marchisio, has been the best midfielder at the tournament.

Pirlo, Buffon, Barzagli and De Rossi are the only survivors from the World Cup winning squad from 2006 and their play at Euro 2012 has arguably been more expansive then Spain’s. They dominated their two knockout games in midfield and with Cassano and Balotelli on-song up front they will thoroughly challenge the Spanish procession. Spain will need to disrupt the midfield axis that shields Pirlo or his passing ability will pick holes in the Spanish backline.

Andrea Pirlo has embarrassingly only been heralded by a mainstream audience at the age of 33, and the former Inter and AC Milan man has vindicated Prandelli’s decision to base the Italian team around him. Pirlo is one of the most gifted midfielders in European football and the level of his appraisal after the England match indicates the dismissive arrogance of the English media. The lack of European coverage in England and obsessive admiration of Pirlo after the quarter final and semi-final confirms that until a player delivers against England they are immediately dismissed.

Pundits are bemoaning the absence of an ‘English’ Pirlo after now having it thrust in front of them, but the reality is that Pirlo has been winning titles and World Cups for years previously without this level of deification.

Spain beat the Italians 4-2 on penalties in a gripping quarter final at Euro 2008, in what proved a watershed moment for the Spanish national team. Despite playing excellently in previous tournaments they had come un-stuck and choked in the knockout phases and their gritty elimination of the Italian's paved the way for their first major title since 1964 and the start of their current run. Should La Roja win tomorrow it will be a fitting and appropriate opponent for Spain, as they return full circle to the Italians, looking to make history as the greatest assembly of players in football history. 

'Boring' Spain march on

Spain face Portugal in the first semi-final of Euro 2012 and the build-up has been reduced to whether Ronaldo can beat Spain single handedly and whether Spain would change their approach after being labelled 'boring'.

Both statements are founded in ridiculous hyperbole and have reduced the amount of interesting journalism undertaken in the (English) mainstream press. CR7 has had quite a good tournament; scoring in five successive tournaments for Portugal isn't bad, but to suggest that the rest of the Portugal side are a side show waiting for Ronaldo to rescue them is to ignore the depth of experience in the side.

Other than Miguel Veloso, the indifferent Raul Merieles and the absence of a out-and-out striker, Portugal have one of the form teams in the tournament and they have an enormous amount of continental experience. Pepe and Bruno Alves have looked imperious at the back, while the two full-backs are amongst the most dangerous in Europe. Joao Moutinho has been superb and with two seasons under his belt at Porto looks like fulfilling his early promise. Nani came to Poland and Ukraine on the back of a poor league season but has impressed thus far.

Ronaldo has found some form at Euro 2012, taking 30 shots will help, but to suggest that Portugal are a weak team without him is foolish. The have shown enough to indicate that they will give Spain their toughest test at Euro 2012 and the Portuguese looked close to matching Germany, despite showing them too much respect in the 1-0 defeat.

After posting eight goals in their first four games, only behind Germany with nine, people seem to have got it in for Spain and the 'boring' tika-taka football that they've produced this tournament. After conceding just one goal in games against Italy, Croatia and France the Spanish squad have genuinely had to answer questions about their playing style and whether they would change it.

That the whole world was fawning over tika-tak football two (and four) years ago has been conveniently forgotten, and Xabi Alonso and Andreas Iniesta have had to declare in press-conferences that Spain would be sticking to their principles and passing philosophy.

Guillem Balague alluded to the extraordinary scrutiny and pressure that Spain are under and it seems to be fashionable to pick holes in the Spanish at present. The Chelsea Champions League win falsely reinforced a notion that playing ultra defensively will regularly defeat a passing machine and this has contributed to a footballing culture more happy to critique possession football.

Chelsea's win was down to some extraordinary luck in at least three of their European ties and was supposed to be based on the model that Inter perfected in 2010. The main difference being that Inter produced a masterclass in defending, so good it is unlikely to be matched, whereas Chelsea rode their luck and thumped it up to man-mountain Drogba. To defend that well, to a man, and eliminate Barcelona will happen 1 in 10 matches and Inter also rode their luck regarding Bojan's legitimate goal.

To contend that Spain need to change their approach is an absurd statement and from where I'm sitting their football this tournament has been superb. I can count two clear chances that they have conceded in four whole matches; the Di Natale goal and Rakitic chance v Croatia. Both were created on the counter and required two pieces of excellent individual skill, a step over and perfect pass from Pirlo and a mazy run and outside of the boot cross from Modric to come close to breaking Spain down.

As part of tika-taka football Spain will monopolise the ball and unless they come up against a foolhardy side, they will have to break down three walls of opposition players, quite a challenge. By keeping the ball for longer and playing less openly Spain are protecting Sergio Ramos and Gerrard Pique, which is a raw partnership and less stable than a Pique and Puyol or Puyol and Marchena.

The Spanish have now gone eight knock-out games without conceding a goal, which is normally a great way of progressing at competitions. Spain are not here to play entertaining football and put on a show for the public. They come to Poland and Ukraine looking to be the first side to win three successive tournaments and based on their form and resilient displays so far, look favourites to do that.

England once again find their level

England were left to rue their inaccuracy on penalties as they suffered a 4-2 penalty defeat to Italy after 120 goalless minutes in Kiev. Statistics never tell the full story but with a possession of 34%, joint with the damage Greece inflicted on Germany, and an average of 2.75 shots on target a game it is easy to see why England failed to trouble many teams.

That it took a penalty shoot-out to finally finish England off was indicative of some profligate finishing from Italy and the dogged determination of the England players. Sadly this seems the only trait that English players can excel at in international competition, and bravery and commitment are no longer enough to win a major tournament.

Roy Hodgson has come in and in the space of just ten training sessions done all that he can; make England harder to beat. Hodgson can do little about the scarcity of players brave enough to demand possession of the ball and was denied the presence of one who can, Jack Wilshire, through injury. But to suggest that Wilshire in midfield would have seen us dominating other teams in possession stakes is wildly optimistic and glosses over the deeper issues at hand.

The £750 million invested on Wembley Stadium still has a long way to go before it repays its outlay and the FA must be wishing that more of that money was invested in youth coaching. Other than Jack Wilshire there is a dearth of ball friendly midfielders in England set-ups and the FA are now several years behind other nations in their development programmes.

Germany completely overhauled their youth development eight years ago under Jurgen Klinsmann and Joachim Low, with the tacit approval of the Bundesliga, and their crop of midfielders at Euro 2012 reflects their philosophy. Until the Premier League agrees to a reduction of power and influence in England the FA and national set-up will continue to struggle. There needs to be a readdress towards the FA and the national side, but with the rampant financial success of the Premier League this looks increasingly unlikely.

England could quite easily have lost all four of their games at Euro 2012 and only dictated the majority of the play in one of them, against Sweden. There was no goal-line injustice or red card to rage against or hide behind this tournament. England were given a football lesson by the Italians and a revaluation of how England approach football will need to start soon. Past tournaments have provided the nation with a scapegoat or a reason to put off any major change. England’s meek exit this year may finally see an overhaul of a nation still clinging to 1966 as they finally move on. 

European team of the year 2011-2012

Goalkeeper: Joe Hart

With a second year as no. 1 at Manchester City under his belt, Hart is fast becoming one of the best stoppers in the world and remains England's only world-class player. Conceding just 29 goals in the Premier League helped City to the title this year and Hart has made some stand-out stops in their campaign; an instinctive save to deny Darren Bent the pick of the bunch, earning all three points for his side in the process.  Although he has had the leagues best centre-back pairing in front of him, Hart has had to produce when it counted and he duly delivered.  Special mentions go out to David De Gea who recovered from a shakey start at United and had the best shot to save ratio in the league and also to Italian stalwart Gianluigi Buffon, who had another superb season.

Right back: Lukasz Piszczek

The Borrusia Dortmund full-back had a second excellent season in Germany, a season which culminated in a second successive league title for Jurgen Klopp's young side. The Polish full-back was actually a free transfer from Hertha Berlin in 2010 and in those two years the former midfielder has transformed into one of the most dynamic right-backs in the game. He marked Frank Ribery out of the DFB Cup final which Dortmund won 5-2 and still managed to maintain an attacking threat. Real Madrid are rumoured to be hovering and if Poland have a strong Euro 2012 expect other teams to join them.

Left back: Ashley Cole

Despite a fairly poor start to the season, 'Cashley' has turned it on when the performances have really counted. Since the departure of AVB, Cole has put in a series of world-class shifts for Chelsea and was instrumental in their Champions League win. His goal-line clearance in Naples prevented Napoli taking a 4-1 lead to Stamford Bridge and surely kept Chelsea in Europe. Compettion in the full-back positions was pretty sparse this season; Phillip Lahm was solid if unspectacular and Giorgio Chiellini impressed when shunted out to the left, but Cole was the player who delivered in the big games.

Centre backs: Vincent Kompany and Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa

Vincent Kompany was finally handed the captains arm-band after Mancini stopped pandering to Carlos Tevez and the Belgian has been the best centre-back in Europe this season. As anyone who plays Football Manager will testify his £6 million fee was a superb transfer and after muddling around in midfield under Mark Hughes he was finally placed in the centre of the Man City defence. He marshalled the meanest back-line in the Premier League this season and unlike the place of Vidic at United, his presence in defence was essential for City; without Kompant they fell apart, but the skipper returned in time to halt the slide and scored the deciding goal in the Manchester derby.

There were several contendors to play alongside Kompany but the 23-year-old captain of Montpellier wins the spot. Mbiwa led his side to an incredible success in Ligue 1 and was extremely unfortunate to not make  Laurent Blanc's 23 man squad for the Euro's, losing out to Laurent Koscielny who was part of that impervious Arsenal defence. Mbiwa has been at Montpellier for over six years and has already amassed 165 games for them. Montpellier were outscored by the Qatari funded PSG, but conceded just 20 goals in a defence that was superbly marshalled by Mbiwa. Matt Hummels of Dortmund came close to making the team, as did Sergio Ramos who I must begrudgingly admit had an excellent season at Madrid, when  not falling out with Mourinho.

Defensive midfield: Andrea Pirlo

There have been some inspired free transfers this season; Demba Ba to Newcastle, Brad Friedel to Spurs, Phillip Mexes to AC Milan but the move of Andrea Pirlo from Milan to Juventus will come back to haunt Milan for years to come. Milan are renowned for having an ageing midfield but after allowing World Cup winner Pirlo to leave on a free he was snapped up by Juventus who proceeded to win the league without defeat. In Antonio Conte's system, Pirlo has been dropping even deeper than before, and with Arturo Vidal and Antonio Marchisio pressing the opposition high up the pitch, he has been presented with the time and space to dismantle opposition defences. Juventus tightened up their defence to win this years Scudetto and the arrival of Pirlo helped them dictate play and ultimately win the league.

Centre midfielders: Yaya Toure and Mezut Ozil

Yaya Toure returned from the African Cup of Nations just in time to help City to their first title in 41 years, and if the Ivorian had been missing for one or two more games the title might have been  out of reach. The younger of the Toure's carried City through games early in the season and his dynamic runs from midfield would often create a goal from absolutely nothing. Upon his arrival pundits were quick to pigeon-hole the Ivorian as a holding midfielder and expressed surprise when he broke from deep to such devastating effect. The English media have finally caught up with what Yaya Toure can bring to a team but not before he lifted Man City to the title.

After doing well in his first year in Spain, Mesut Ozil has taken his game even further this season and was one of the reasons behind Madrid outscoring Barcelona to la Liga. Ronaldo might have grabbed the headlines with his goal tally, but the diminutive German finished with a remarkable 17 assists in his 35 league games, including that assist in the decisive el Classico for Ronaldo's winning goal. Ozil is keeping former World Player of the Year, Kaka, out of the Real Madrid team and he is central to their chances of repeating their success again.

Left wing: Cristiano Ronaldo

Despite scoring 60 goals in 55 appearances I've had to shift Real Madrid's main man out to the left hand side of attack. Say what you like about the competitiveness of the Spanish league, Ronaldo has blitzed opposition defences this campaign and is unlucky not to be selected up front in this team. Pretty self explanatory.

Right wing: Lionel Messi

Not being Pep Guardiola, I couldn't find room in my 4-3-3 formation for a false number 9 role for Messi, so unfortuantely the two best players in the world are out wide. Although I'm pretty confident he could do some damage from out here.

Striker: Radamel Falcao

Competition for this position was especially fierce. Robin Van Persie has had a sublime season as has compatriot Klass Huntelaar, both hitting more than 40 goals. Oliver Giroud of Montpellier also had an excellent season, hitting 25 as his side won the French league, while Sergio Aguero looked as if he had been playing Premier League football his entire life.

But for me one striker stood out and I would be amazed if Falcao is still at Atletico Madrid next season. The 26-year-old has every facet to his game. He is powerful, fast, strong in the air, can score golazo's and is a big game player. After deciding the 2011 Europa League final with a brave header for Porto, the Columbian tore apart Bilbao in this years final scoring twice with two equally brilliant goals. To have the presence of mind and ability to execute a Cruyff turn on the six yard box, take three defenders out of the game and then finish is staggering. He scored 36 goals in what was his first experience of Spanish football and will have Europe's elite chasing his signature this summer.