[Mark]

Euro 2008 - Matthaeus: My dream team

Euro 2008 has seen many fine individual performances so far but with three games remaining, which players have been the cream of the crop?

Originally Posted by eurosport.yahoo.com

Here, Eurosport pundit and former Germany captain Lothar Matthaeus presents his very own dream team of the tournament so far.



(3-1-3-3 formation)

Iker Casillas (Spain) - "Usually you pick players who go very far in the competition, so for me Casillas is the goalkeeper of the tournament."



Philipp Lahm (German) - "Lahm has played well consistently. He puts a lot of pressure on opponents and embodies everything that a modern full-back should be in a successful team."

Ricardo Carvalho (Portugal) - "Carvalho is a very good central defender who has gained a lot of international experience with Chelsea."

Carles Puyol (Spain) - "The Spaniard has been very strong in the centre of defence."



Sergei Semak (Russia) - "I've included the captain of Russia because he is a team player and gives everything for his team. He plays the ball quickly, closes down space and controls the game from his defensive midfield position."



Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) - "Ronaldo gets the nod, even though he was eliminated in the quarter-final. He's the best player in the world, a very good dribbler and a real goal threat."

Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands) - "Sneijder is a smart player and always looks for goals."

Bastien Schweinsteiger (Germany) - "When Schweinsteiger plays like he did against Portugal, he's as good as some of the greats who have played that position."



Andrei Arshavin (Russia) - "Arshavin is a fast player who takes part in every attack and is dangerous in front of goal."

Roman Pavlyuchenko (Russia) - "Pavlyuchenko is a player who is on the move for the entire 90 minutes. He's very fast and finds his way through into dangerous positions."

David Villa (Spain) - "Spain have two kinds of strikers - one is tall and big, the other one is mobile and clever. Villa, the latter, has already proved his instinct for goal with a hat-trick in the first game against Russia."



Manager: Guus Hiddink (Russia) - "I think Hiddink's side have played some good football so far and he has been the coach of the tournament so far."

Article Here!





Seems pretty fair to me, any other thoughts ?