Euro 2008: Best And Worst Of The Tournament

Columnist Written on June 28, 2008

(Page 3 of 3)

Ivanschitz is called the Austrian David Beckham, I can only assume this was Beckham circa Euro 2004, when he was unfit, overweight, and blazing penalties high and wide like there was no tomorrow. Ivanschitz took a few mediocre free-kicks, and was generally completely abysmal. So much for being the great hope of Austrian football.

Strikers: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Mario Gomez (Germany) OK, so Ronaldo scored one decent goal, but this kid is supposed to be the best player in the world, a player who can win games on his own, and who would take the tournament by storm. He didn't even look like the best player in Portugal as he was upstaged by Deco. Even Simao gave him a run for his money in the best Portuguese attacker stakes.

Blame it on uncertainty about his future if you like, but Ronaldo failed to perform at another major tournament, when his reputation has him as a cross between Pele and Maradona. Can Clive Tyldesley take his head out of his anus now?

Gomez, on the other hand, was a relatively unknown player who came in with a growing reputation, and promptly had it ripped to shreds. Six goals in nine caps before the tournament began, I think he could have played 60 games this month and he wouldn't have scored six times. There is a barn door son, here is a banjo, now go and get some practice.

And finally......

A dishonourable mention to Marco Streller (Switzerland), possibly the worst striker to play in a European Championship match ever. Honestly, watching League 2 football I have seen some donkeys in my time, but this guy was appalling on every level.

Also an honourable mention to Luca Toni (Italy), a player who clearly knows where the net is, but just misplaces his map when major football tournaments come around. He scored two in the World Cup, from 253 chances, and failed to score here, from only 162 attempts. By that reckoning, his 39 goals for Bayern last term must have come from 8264 chances!

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