Euro 2008 Team of the Tournament
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The UEFA Technical Team for Euro 2008 has released the list of 23 players named as the Team of the Tournament.
The panel who have followed every match at the tournament decided the final selection, and nine of the 23 players were Spanish, following their triumph in the championship.
The squad comprising three players from defeated finalists Germany, four from Russia, two each from the Netherlands and Portugal and a single player from Turkey, Croatia and Italy.
But surprisingly, there was no place for Cristiano Ronaldo in the squad.
UEFA Technical Director Andy Roxburgh explained Ronaldo's absence was due to the fact Portugal did not progress further in the competition.
Roxburgh added that Ronaldo was mentioned and if Portugal had gone further, there's no argument he has been in this group.
In fact the panel haven't included anybody who was knocked out in the group phase.
On UEFA's official website, Roxburgh said: "The Team of the Tournament is something which we put into our technical report for our coaching colleagues.
We give them pointers on the players that our technical experts have appreciated during this event.
This team is very much self-contained in terms of the tournament - this is not about reputations.
In fact there are only four players in here who were in our UEFA Champions League team of the competition.
It's all very much about the performances in this competition."
He also praised Germany captain Michael Ballack: "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."
About nine Spanish players in the squad, Roxburgh said they are not all that surprised, because for more than a decade now the top youth teams in Europe have been Spanish.
UEFA Team 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 (Spain), Konstantin Zyryanov (Russia), Michael Ballack (Germany), Cesc Fàbregas (Spain), Andrés Iniesta (Spain), Lukas Podolski (Germany), Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands)
Forwards: Andrei Arshavin (Russia), Roman Pavlyuchenko (Russia), Fernando Torres (Spain), David Villa (Spain)
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The panel who have followed every match at the tournament decided the final selection, and nine of the 23 players were Spanish, following their triumph in the championship.
The squad comprising three players from defeated finalists Germany, four from Russia, two each from the Netherlands and Portugal and a single player from Turkey, Croatia and Italy.
But surprisingly, there was no place for Cristiano Ronaldo in the squad.
UEFA Technical Director Andy Roxburgh explained Ronaldo's absence was due to the fact Portugal did not progress further in the competition.
Roxburgh added that Ronaldo was mentioned and if Portugal had gone further, there's no argument he has been in this group.
In fact the panel haven't included anybody who was knocked out in the group phase.
On UEFA's official website, Roxburgh said: "The Team of the Tournament is something which we put into our technical report for our coaching colleagues.
We give them pointers on the players that our technical experts have appreciated during this event.
This team is very much self-contained in terms of the tournament - this is not about reputations.
In fact there are only four players in here who were in our UEFA Champions League team of the competition.
It's all very much about the performances in this competition."
He also praised Germany captain Michael Ballack: "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."
About nine Spanish players in the squad, Roxburgh said they are not all that surprised, because for more than a decade now the top youth teams in Europe have been Spanish.
UEFA Team 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 (Spain), Konstantin Zyryanov (Russia), Michael Ballack (Germany), Cesc Fàbregas (Spain), Andrés Iniesta (Spain), Lukas Podolski (Germany), Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands)
Forwards: Andrei Arshavin (Russia), Roman Pavlyuchenko (Russia), Fernando Torres (Spain), David Villa (Spain)
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