My Euro 2012 Team of the Tournament

Every football fan in the world has gone through 3 weeks of entertainment mayhem with what we have witnessed what happened in Poland and Ukraine. UEFA EURO 2012 has now ended and will have to fill in the rest of our summers with something else to do than watch 16 teams kicking about a leathery spherical figure. 

We saw the surprising, the disappointing, and the inevitable. We saw how Netherlands and Russia bowed out of the tournament prematurely, with co-hosts Ukraine and Poland also just as disappointing. But we also saw how England managed to win a group they were predicted to finish bottom in, Italy beating pre-tournament favorites Germany in the semifinals, and how Denmark didn't become the whipping boys out of the 'Group of Death'.

But the inevitable events just had to happen. France fail to show up, Ireland going home with no points, and most importantly Spain defending their title with a 4-0 thrashing of Italy in the Final. We just knew those things were going to happen.

There were lots of players who showed what they were worth, but below are 11 players who stood out the most for me in every position. I will use a 4-2-3-1 formation since that formation was the most used by the teams this summer.

Goalkeeper: Iker Casillas (Spain)

Saint Iker only conceded once throughout the tournament and he should be lauded for his impressive performance between the sticks. Spain's captain's inclusion was given a run for his money in this team by Italy's Gianluigi Buffon and England's Joe Hart, but Casillas was able to lead this side to 3 straight tournament victories and of course he played a big part of each of it.

Rightback: Glen Johnson (England)

To be honest, I was very skeptical of his inclusion after Kyle Walker injured himself and Micah Richards getting snubbed. His performances for Liverpool have declined but from all of the players in the England squad, he proved me wrong the most. He was far better in defending than I have ever seen him play ever. His inclusion above Portugal's Joao Pereira and Czech's Theodore Gebre Selassie in this team speaks volume on how I was surprised of how he performed.

Centreback: Sergio Ramos (Spain)

Cutting off his hair wasn't the only brilliant decision he made this summer. That chipped penalty in the semifinal shootout against Portugal silenced his critics since Real Madrid's Champions League semifinal exit. He did his defensive duties brilliantly despite being put of his normal right-back position for Spain.

Centreback: Mats Hummels (Germany)

Despite criticism early on his international career, his elegance in the center of Germany's defence helped the nation's cause. Pundits and fans alike were impressed by Hummels' performances even after a bad game against Italy where he was at fault in at least one of the goals conceded. Hope he bounces back from that semifinal outing.

Leftback: Jordi Alba (Spain)

Most analysts claimed this position were Spain's weak link for ages, but I myself certainly did not see that. I only managed to see him play a handful of times for Valencia and he wasn't that bad, but he certainly played way better for Spain and his move (back) to Barcelona doesn't look out of place. Due to Spain's formation of no strikers, everyone got a chance to attack and Alba took his in the final to score Spain's second of the game. I easily could have put either Germany's Phillipe Lahm or Portugal's Fabio Coentrao but Jordi here was something special. Barcelona next season would be frightening with him and Dani Alves bombing down the wings. *shivers*

Centremidfield: Andrea Pirlo (Italy)

During the Euro's, 70% of the male population would have experienced a man-crush towards Pirlo. At the age 33, his game is comparable to fine wine - becomes better with age. His assist for Di Natale in the opening match, his freak-kick scored against Croatia and a Panenka-esque penalty against England were only some of us men's reasons to fall for his skills. When someone gets mentioned in a dreamteam ahead of Xavi and Xabi Alonso, you know you've won loads of admirers.

Centremidfield: Sami Khedira (Germany)

I have never seen Sami Khedira play bad ever. In every game I've seen him play for Germany since the 2010 World Cup, he is always brilliant. It could be because he is one of the most consistent players in the tournament or because I rarely watch Real Madrid play. Either way, he definitely merits his inclusion in this team ahead of Steven Gerrard and his goal against Greece in the quarterfinals just sealed the deal.

Right Attacking Midfielder: Andres Iniesta (Spain)

Slightly cheating here on his position in this team because he didn't really play on the right for his country. Andres-Cesc-Silva switched places occasionally during the match so it was a bit hard to slot one of them in this team, but I decided to go with Iniesta for his pass for Cesc in the final that actually set up Silva. He was also named Player of the Tournament and deservedly so.

Centre Attacking Midfielder: Mesut Ozil (Germany)

Again, his inclusion was difficult due to challangers in the form of Cesc and Silva. The reason why I chose Ozil was for his vision in how he covered for Schweinsteiger's mediocre form in the knockout stages. 3 assists in the tournament added by a ruthless taken penalty against Italy in at the end of the game. He's only 23, I can't imagine how good he will be when he reaches his peak.

Left Attacking Midfielder: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)

I had this position reserved specially for him. His appointment of being made captain may raise a few eyebrows and his hairstyle changes may confuse a few stylists as well. But he did carry the team to semifinals albeit not on his own. Scoring twice in an important match against Netherlands showed the critics who said he couldn't perform during the big games were wrong. Even though he only manage to score 3 goals, he was Portugal's main goalscoring threat and he did it well considering Portugal doesn't have a well developed striker in their ranks.

Striker: Mario Balotelli (Italy)

What? No Torres? Yeah, No Fernando in this team. Sure he got the Golden Boot (which he totally deserved by the way), but all his goals came in 4-0 thrashings of Ireland and Italy. And with Spain usually not playing a striker should put his place in this team into huge consideration

Mario Balotelli also only scored 3 goals but all of his goals were worldclass and looked consistent throughout the tournament. A no-look volley against Ireland, a bullet header from close range against Germany, and a top corner finish also against Deutschland displayed he was the best. Mario Gomez didn't cut it in this team, he was good in 2 games and then came back into his normal international form. I could just wonder if only Zlatan Ibrahimovic's Sweden and Nicklas Bendtner's Denmark got through the group stages...

SOOOOOOOOOO this was my team. Thanks for reading. I now you may have other opinions but this is my blog, so I'll write what I want.

The "What ifs?" of Germany's World Cup Campaign

This was posted on my Posterous account like 2 weeks ago, don't accuse of being late in posting something World Cup-related. I'm just re-posting what I wrote there.

The FIFA World Cup is over, and Germany's young squad missed out to eventual champions Spain in the semifinals, and ended up 3rd overall after winnign against Uruguay. Despite a great squad and performance by young players, it took everyone away from the thought that most of their key-players were actually missing from the tournament. And their path to the Semi-finals didn't come with ease. I would just like to imagine the "What ifs?"  of this German squad and would've happened.

Fig 1. Robert Enke

First of the problems came way before the World Cup happened where Robert Enke - Germany's 1st choice Goalkeeper - attempted suicide back in November 2009. His replacement the young and promising Rene Adler declared he would not take part in the upcoming World Cup to undergo a surgery for his rib injury a month before the World Cup began. So up stepped another promising Goalkeeper in Manuel Neuer who played magnificently in the World Cup. But here comes the question, "What if Robert Enke didn't die and what if Rene Adler didn't get injured?". Maybe and just maybe, Germany wouldn't concede that goal against Serbia which cost them the game, or maybe the goal from Carles Puyol in the semis.

Fig 2. Heiko Westermann

Next comes the defence problems. Schalke defender Heiko Westermann was scheduled to be a key player in the German's defence to pair up with Per Mertesacker but broke his foot in the last warmup game before the World Cup. Arne Friedrich who was scheduled to play as rightback was then converted as Westermann's replacement and playing well with a goal to add in the competition. Westermann's injury forced Phillip Lahm to switch sides from Leftback to Rightback and leaving young players in Holger Badstuber and Jerome Boateng sharing roles as back-up left-back. My question here is , "What if Heiko Westermann didn't get injured?". Will either Badstuber or Boateng be even called-up to the national squad? if they did, would they get a minute on the pitch? Friedrich was great in teh heart of the German defence but he may have had a better performance should he had played in his natural position as rightback.

Fig 3. Michael Ballack

Then the centrepiece of them all, the captaincy. First choice captain Michael Ballack injured his ankle in his last game as a Chelsea player against Portsmouth in the FA Cup final where his opponent Kevin-Prince Boateng tackled late on him causing Ballack to miss the World Cup. Boateng incidentally, is Jerome Boateng's brother whom both played for Germany in youth levels. Kevin-Prince though decided to play for Ghana and help their campaign in the World Cup. Michael Ballack's place however, was replaced by Stuttgart midfielder Sami Khedira and his captaincy fell to Phillip Lahm's arms, while his proud #13 shirt was worn by young striker Thomas Muller. Khedira had a blast in the World Cup which lead interest from Real Madrid and Manchester United while Phillip Lahm lead the team by example, and Thomas Muller snatching the Golden Boot and Best young player. The question that fits here is, "What if Michael Ballack didn't lose his captaincy because of Kevin-Prince Boateng's late tackle?" who knows Ballack wouldve played better than Khedira would, and could've lead the team to even the World Cup Final.

Fig 4. Miroslav Klose  & Lukas Podolski

Strikers selection also became an issue. Usual choices Lukas Podolski and Miroslav Klose have both flopped in the league, while Cacau is naturally a Brazilian who has a German citizenship. That leaves the inform strikers of last season's Bundesliga are Stefan Keissling, Kevin Kuranyi and youngster Thomas Muller. To the surprise of everyone Podolski and Klose were chosen after all following a horrid season and Cacau too added to the squad. Kevin Kuranyi earlier in the year had a bust-up with Germany head coach Joachim Low so he wouldn't be called up, which gives Thomas Muller a chance to be part of the squad including Keissling and Spanish-born Mario Gomez in the squad as well. Media and fans criticized Low's selection policy as being "too trustworthy of Podolski and Klose". But as it turned out, Klose and Podolski both had great tournaments with Klose scoring 4 and Podolski scoring 2. Thomas Muller scored 5 and became topscorer of the worldcup, while Cacau managed to score one himself. The questions now are, "What if Miroslav Klose, Lukas Podolski and Thomas Muller was never called-up to the National team? and what if Cacau never took Germany citizenship?". Certainly things would have been very different.

Fig 5. Lampard's shot crossing the line

Then came that game against England in the round of 16. Germany took the lead with goals from Podolski and Klose but England narrowed the gap with a Matthew Upson header to make the game 2-1 to Deutschland. Moments after Upson scored, Frank Lampard attempted a long range shot which bounced off under the crossbar which England fans thought that it crossed the goal-line for an equalizer, but referee Jorge Larrionda and his assistants ruled that it did not pass the line although replays showed that it passed the line by quite a margin. England never got back into the game and concede a further 2 goals from a double by Thomas Muller and lost 1-4. Next question would be, "What if Frank Lampard's goal was given?" England could have gone back into the match and fight until the death if the scores were tied again, but yet again the German side that day was unstoppable.

Fig 6. Thomas Muller

Thomas Muller's red hot form did not stop there as he scored and helped Germany thump Argentina 4-0 but got his second yellow card of the tournament for a challenge which couldve been avoided and misses the Semifinals against Spain because of this. Germany lost that game because they couldnt counter as much as they wouldve liked against a stubborn Spanish defence line probably because of a certain missing link on the right side of attack in Muller. Spain won the semifinals - and eventually the World Cup - with a 1-0 scoreline. Here comes the last question, "What would've happened if Thomas Muller actually played in the semifinals?". I don't know if he would've made a significant impact considering how great Spain's defence is, but you can't stop the writer from wondering...

Now to recap them all, "What if all those never happened? could Germany got even closer to winning the World Cup?" They certainly have excelled from their shortages, but it goes to wonder what if they didn't have their key absentees...