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Euro 2008 Best Eleven: The Group Stages

Goal.com's Sulmaan Ahmad picks out the best performers from Euro 2008's group stages...

We have had 12 days of action in which four groups of four teams each have battled it out for eight places in the quarterfinals. The shock of the tournament so far has without doubt been France's elimination in the Group of Death, while there have been no standout surprises, though Turkey's miraculous back-to-back comeback wins to earn their place in the last eight certainly came against the odds.

There have been plenty of standout performers in what has been a promising tournament so far. Midfield has, as it usually does, produced the most impressive performers, while there have been surprisingly few good defensive displays.

Unsurprisingly, the Netherlands have the most players in the team, with three, while the impressive Croatia's two entrants are both defensive, as going forward was really more of a collective effort than reliance on individual brilliance.

As always, there will be controversy and debate over many of the inclusions, so without further ado, here is the Euro 2008 best eleven for the group stages.

Gianluigi Buffon (Italy)

Despite an unenviable record of four goals conceded in three games - twice as many as he conceded on all seven on the way to the 2006 World Cup - few would argue with Buffon being picked as the outstanding goalkeeper of the tournament so far. An outstanding penalty save kept his side in the tournament, and his finger-tips denied Karim Benzema a beautiful goal and a tense finish to the Azzurri's decider against France. His closest contender is most probably Artur Boruc, who was protected by a miserable defence and did his utmost to prevent his country's inevitable elimination. Edwin van der Sar has also continued his Champions League-winning form with the Dutch.

Buffon dons the captain's armband, just as he has in two of Italy's three games, for his exceptional leadership of a defence surprisingly short on confidence and the team as a goal.

Philipp Lahm (Germany)

Germany's defence has been untypically shambolic, but Philipp Lahm, whether at right or left-back, puts in a solid shift both going forward and in defence. He was not at his best during the defeat to Croatia, but not a single German was. A fantastic performer full of class and discipline, Lahm edges the likes of Jose Bosingwa and Vedran Corluka to this spot in the team.

Khalid Boulahrouz (Netherlands)

He himself will be as surprised as anyone with just how well everything has gone for him so far during Euro 2008. Playing at right-back, the versatile Chelsea man has fought relentlessly with any opponent put in his path - particularly exceptional against France - and will almost certainly engineer the move away from Stamford Bridge he has been dying for, unless Luiz Felipe Scolari has a sudden urge to keep the tireless stopper. Condolences to him and his family upon hearing the news that his prematurely born daughter Anissa passed away this morning. Hopefully he will be able to return to action for his side in the knockout rounds.

Robert Kovac (Croatia)

Has shown his experience and leadership at the back for Croatia, at the heart of an incredibly organised defence: the joint-best in the tournament with the Netherlands, having conceded just one goal so far. His defensive partner Josip Simunic could have an almost equal claim to this place in the team, but seniority rules supreme in this case. Portugal's Pepe is also in with a shout after a wonderful game against Turkey in which he scored a goal ruled out for offside, only to burst forward to net one legitimately - his first for Portugal - but he looked positionally shaky against the Czech Republic on occasion.

Joan Capdevila (Spain)

A late bloomer, Capdevila arguably only has his place in La Furia Roja because of the tragic death of Sevilla prospect Antonio Puerta, but the Villarreal stopper has risen to form for his country, not only throughout the qualifiers, but now on the big stage as well. His single blemish so far in the tournament came when he was caught napping from a corner against Russia, allowing them a consolation goal. He has otherwise been rock-solid down the left, outshining the so-far underwhelming Sergio Ramos on the other flank, and without bombing forward at every opportunity, he has provided two assists with sweetly timed through-balls. Beats out Yuri Zhirkov of Russia and Italy's Fabio Grosso to the left-back berth.

Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)

The love-hate reception received upon mere mention of his name is inevitable, but what cannot be questioned as that the Manchester United ace has been involved in all five of Portugal's goals and has been their main attacking threat in what was a deceptively strong group. Took his sole goal brilliantly - and a decisive one it was, too - and has more or less brought his form for club through for his country on the big stage. Will have one of the biggest games of his career this evening against Germany in the quarterfinals. Libor Sionko of the Czech Republic was a close contender, but missed too many of his chances, Arda Turan is also an emerging star for Turkey, while Arjen Robben's impact for the Dutch against France was devastating, but he did not quite take control of the Romania encounter - which was not a competitive game for the Dutch anyway - to edge Ronaldo into the team.

Rafael van der Vaart (Netherlands)

Is fast building his reputation as one of the best young passers of the ball in Europe. Was blinding against Italy in the opener, and though more subdued and well-marked against France, was still one of the Oranje's best players. The Hamburg SV man is without question putting his time in the shop window to good use, edging Michael Ballack to this place in the team, following the Chelsea man's somewhat off-colour showing against Croatia (though in his defence, the lack of a competent support staff was evident).

Niko Kovac (Croatia)

While plaudits have been pouring all over the dubiously priced, Premier League-bound Luka Modric, fellow creative Croatians Ivan Rakitic and Niko Kranjcar have performed just as well, but all have been allowed to do so courtesy of midfield general and team captain, Niko Kovac. He has been the rock in midfield, freeing up Croatia's unit of attacking players to burst forward and eventually create the goals. The playmakers have been as good as each other Kovac has been a cut above, also protecting the back four (which includes his brother, Robert, also in the team) to great effect. Edges the titanic Daniele De Rossi purely on the basis of affecting better results for his side, albeit against weaker opposition, but then Croatia themselves are no Italy. Very little between them.

Deco (Portugal)

The little Brazilian-born want-away Barcelona star, like van der Vaart, is getting the most out of his time in the spotlight in order to engineer a move to either Chelsea or Inter - where he will link up with one of his former managers. What makes his displays particularly impressive is the fact he has been out of the Blaugrana's starting line-up for much of the season, only playing a handful of games towards the end and looking far from his best, yet turning it on for his country - or his adopted country - has been seamless. Has risen to prominence and out-performed the likes of Andrea Pirlo and Xavi to seal this slot. Portugal struggled in qualifying when he was off form, but now he is in his stride, they are looking one of the teams of the tournament.

Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands)

One of the most unassuming names in the forward line of this team, but arguably the best performer of them all. Sneijder won the Man of the Match award in both games he played for the Netherlands - rested in the third - and was instrumental in the demolition of both Italy and France. He scored an acrobatic goal capping off a fabulous counterattack against the world champions to well and truly turn the game and capped a smooth team move with a sumptuous finish to add insult to French injury in stoppage time. Furthermore, his defensive work rate must not be underestimated, as he regularly tracked back - particularly against France - to aid Giovanni van Bronckhorst against the threat of a very lively Sidney Govou.

David Villa (Spain)

There can be little doubt that the competition's leading goal scorer snaps up the lone striker role in this team. His hat-trick - the first of Euro 2008 and the first in this competition since Patrick Kluivert's in 2000 - consisted of two brilliant goals and another, though a tap-in on his part, that had good build-up play from Capdevila and Fernando Torres. Despite not being a leading striker, he showed fantastic poacher's instinct to score a late, late winner against Sweden, which took all pressure off his side heading into their final group game against Greece, for which he was rested. Ruud van Nistelrooy has also worked very well for the Dutch, but could not match Villa in the goal-scoring stakes, miraculously only tallying one of the Dutch's nine so far. Lukas Podolski has netted three of Germany's four goals and can count himself unlucky not to be in the team. His goals were sweetly struck, but often fell kindly for him. Furthermore, he did not impact on games overall in the same manner as Villa, Ronaldo or Sneijder. Nihat Kahveci of Turkey was sensational at crunch time for his side, but was dwarfed against Portugal, which counted against him in the end.


Let us know your thoughts, and feel free to submit your own team of the tournament so far...

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