Andrei Arshavin shone against the Dutch

How did they do? Excelled in reaching the semi-finals, especially after being thrashed by Spain in their opening match. They would later be hammered by the Spaniards once again, but not after impressing the continent with victories over Sweden and particularly the Netherlands. Andrei Arshavin shone brightest as playmaker and leader, but the plaudits went to Guus Hiddink for yet another triumph with an unfancied nation following successes with South Korea and Australia.

High Underdogs in their quarter-final against an in-form Netherlands side, favourites for the ultimate crown, Russia utterly dominated the game and although suffered a setback after Ruud van Nistelrooy’s late equaliser, Hiddink’s side regrouped admirably to dominate the extra period, scoring twice more to secure a 3-1 win. The result put them into the last four and firmly established Russia on the European map of top footballing nations.

Low The two games against Spain brought Russia back down to earth with a bang. The first game quickly extinguished the euphoria of qualifying for the tournament - but Russia nevertheless managed to recover. The second beating was particularly hard to take, especially with Hiddink seemingly failing to learn the mistakes of the opening match. Another three-goal defeat demonstrated the gap between the two sides and the distance Russia must go to become real contenders.

Coach Guus Hiddink is renowned for his success with unfancied nations, so it shouldn’t have been a surprise to see Russia rattling towards the last four. His job is not over though, with two more years on his contract and even greater pressure will be on his shoulders come 2010. Constantly targeted by Chelsea and numerous other top clubs, Hiddink looks set to see out his contract with the Russians.

Key player Andrei Arshavin: Although he went gardening in the semi-final against Spain, Arshavin’s excellent performances in Russia’s previous two matches (he was banned for the opening pair of games) were enough to gain Barcelona and Arsenal’s interest. The 27-year-old was integral in guiding Russia to key victories over Sweden and the Netherlands and will surely move from Zenit St Petersburg this summer.

What next? With Hiddink and Arshavin, Russia’s prospects are excellent. Paired with Germany in World Cup qualifying, they may face a play-off to make South Africa in 2010 while Wales and Finland are also in their group. If they do qualify, they will again be outsiders but could provide a surprise - Hiddink is the master at those.

Match stats

Fernando Torres scored the winner in the final

How did they do? They won Euro 2008, playing a brand of silky, free-flowing football. This cannot always be said at tournaments but, emphatically, the winners were the best team throughout. Their superiority manifested itself throughout the pitch - from the clinical finishing of David Villa and Fernando Torres up front, to the formidable defensive duo of Iker Casillas and Carlos Puyol, via a majestic midfield. Their midfield combined the silky panache of Andreas Iniesta, Xavi - the official player of the tournament - and young creative livewire Cesc Fabregas with the relentlessly efficient Marcos Senna.

High How can one look any further than the utterly deserved victory over Germany, which ended 44 barren and trophyless years? Yet, ironically and as so often happens for tournament winners, the worst display was the most significant. The penalty victory over Italy in the quarter-final was what ended the ‘pain in Spain’. Having beaten Italy - in the quarter-finals; on penalties; and on June 22nd, when they had thrice lost shoot-outs - there was nothing more to fear. And, whatever happened thereafter, Spain’s tournament would be regarded as a triumph amongst their supporters.

Low Moments prior to the penalty shoot-out, when Spain feared history would repeat itself. Thereafter, their campaign was leant a sense of inevitability and even the misfortune of having top scorer David Villa injured for the final could not derail them.

Coach Luis Aragones: the 69-year-old has attacted his fair share of criticism, not least when calling Thierry Henry a “black shit” in his ill-fated attempts to motivate Jose Reyes. However, he did a sterling job this tournament, earning copious praise from his players when it was announced he was joining Fernerbache. His use of substitutions, particularly his sagacious use of Cesc Fabregas as an impact player from the bench, was impressive indeed, even if repeatedly substituting Fernando Torres mystified many. The ex-Real Madrid coach Vicente del Bosque is as good a man as any to take up the reins.

Key player Whilst Villa scored four times, Casillas excelled, including in the penalty shoot-out, and the Xavi’s creative panache saw him recognised as the official player of the tournament, Marcos Senna’s distribution, tackling, positional sense and indefatigability as a biting central midfielder made him perhaps Spain’s most crucial player of all.

What next? With many players of exquisite gifts who should not yet at their peak, led by Fabregas, Villa, Torres and Sergio Ramos, Spain now have the opportunity to dominate international football for several tournaments, invigorated by this thoroughly merited victory.

Match stats

Whilst the World Cup is the ultimate footballing spectacle, it suffers in that so many minnows lack the resources to aim for anything more than draws. The likes of Angola, Trinidad & Tobago and Togo, who all played in the last World Cup, would not come close to qualifying for the European Championships. With only 16 teams, there is a diluted quality that lends every game real significance, and does not allow for the predictability that sometimes afflicts groups at World Cups. No country embarrassed themselves; even co-hosts Austria proved the legion of 10,000 fans who had begged, in a petition called “Let’s Not Embarrass Ourselves”, for them to withdraw from the tournament, drew with Poland and were only narrowly edged out by Croatia and Germany.

If there was a disappointment with the tournament, it was surely the underwhelming displays of both hosts. Austria, a gutsy side patently lacking in skill, probably could not have done any better, as a current FIFA ranking of 105 attests to. Switzerland, however, impressed at the last World Cup, when they did not concede a goal, so the manner in which they were knocked out prior to their final group game was a major disappointment.

Nonetheless, this was a vintage tournament.

No tournaments could ask for a more deserving winner than this Spanish side. Blessed with an array of dazzling attacking talent, coach Luis Aragones had the gumption to allow the players expression and avoid stifling their gifts. In many qualifiers, he had opted for only one forward; here, however, the exceptional qualities of David Villa and Fernando Torres were allowed to dazzle in harness. Villa was the top scorer, with his hat-trick over Russia in Spain’s opening game something to behold; Torres, blending raw pace and dexterity with the ball at his feet, scored the only goal of the final.

Yet Spain’s superiority manifested itself throughout. Their midfield combined the silky panache of Andreas Iniesta, Xavi - the official player of the tournament - and Cesc Fabregas, who often made a real impact from the bench and scored the curse-breaking decisive penalty against Italy, with the relentlessly efficient Marcos Senna. Senna’s tackling, positional sense and indefatigability made him perhaps their most crucial player of all. Their defence was also superb; and, when Iker Casillas was most needed, in the penalty shoot-out against Italy, he showed why he is one of the three best goalkeepers in the world today. Spain’s victory was a triumph of artistry; theirs was a side whose multifarious talents and attacking desires were palpable. No one could dispute they were the best.

Pundits in the UK were seldom reluctant to accentuate the deficiencies of this German side compared to their predecessors. And yet, for all that, they reached the final, a commendable effort the result of not just the fortuitous circumstances – by far the more gentle half of the draw; and avoiding Croatia in the semis - but also an exceptional team ethic and their qualities in attack. Michael Ballack also deserves much praise for his inspirational leadership, and scored invaluable goals against Austria and in the 3-2 quarter-final win over Portugal. But, after another 3-2 win in the semi-finals, it was hard but to applaud those whom Germany had defeated: Turkey, the side that would simply never accept defeat.

Turkey’s was amongst the most extraordinary displays ever witnessed in a tournament. A 2-0 opening loss to Portugal was hardly the most auspicious of starts but, thereafter, Turkey’s depths of energy, willpower and almost messianic depths of self-belief continued to astound. A last-minute, come-from-behind victory over hosts Switzerland was stirring indeed, but it was made to look positively mundane by the winner-takes-all clash with the Czech Republic. Rather unjustly, Turkey trailed 2-0 with just 15 minutes left. Hamit Altintop brought them hope, but it did not appear good enough. Then, with three minutes left, there came an almost inexplicable error from Petr Cech to draw Turkey level and open the prospect of penalties deciding the fate of the group. All were left stunned, except Nihat, who produced the crispest of finishes to score his second and take Turkey through.

The sense that fate was on Turkey’s side received was added to in the quarter-final with Croatia. There was a 119th minute, certain winner. Except there wasn’t. A hoof up field from Rustu - so culpable in Croatia’s goal - and a deflection later, and Turkey had come back from the dead again. Seldom can penalties have had such a feeling of inevitability about them: the force was behind Turkey and Croatia, for all the brilliance shown in their group win over Germany, were finished. The Turks were emphatically not, however, and even with an astonishingly depleted side, through injuries and suspensions, were able to better Germany during a pulsating second half of their semi-final. After their 86th minute equaliser, Phillip Lahm’s 90th minute winner was cruel indeed. But Turkey’s phenomenal spirit, boundless energy and no little skill was something extraordinary to behold.

After Turkey’s exit, the label of the side with ‘destiny’ on their side spread, albeit fleetingly, to Russia. Whilst they were twice soundly beaten by outstanding Spanish performances, Russia’s quarter-final win over Holland was spectacular. The vivacity of the players, so often a hallmark of Guus Hiddink’s sides, was inescapable and astonishing, even before one considered they had had three days to prepare for the game, Holland’s first choice players a week. Russia were technically proficient and relentless in their running, their hustling of the opposition and commitment to attacking. And the genius shown by Andrei Arshavin in the victories over Sweden and Holland will not be forgotten easily.

If Russia’s 3-1 win over Holland was the single most impressive team showing in the tournament, then a pair of Dutch displays were not too far behind. In dismantling Italy 3-0 and, especially, trouncing France 4-1, Holland’s technical prowess, ease on the ball and attacking nature led many pundits to compare them with the vintage Dutch side that won the trophy 20 years ago. With Wesley Sneijder superb in central midfield, the forwards received ample service and sometimes - especially in Arjen Robben’s terrific strike against France - their brilliance was such they could manufacture goals seemingly out of nothing.

The tournament also served to reaffirm the transience of footballing dominance; both World Cup finalists produced dismal showings. Italy scraped into the quarter-finals but were bereft of any flair, and their lack of any attacking intent against Spain was feeble in the extreme. It is one thing playing to your strengths, another having such lack of belief in your ability to score that it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy - even from the penalty spot. France were even worse: too defensive; too unwilling to trust the fearlessness of youth; and above all too reliant on the few remaining remnants of the great generation who helped them to two tournament wins.

Spain’s plethora of exceptional players have the ability to match the French of a decade ago and add the World Cup to this European Championship. That, however is for another day. The warm glow of a tournament in which attacking play was so spectacularly rewarded should be savoured. After a tournament that showcased the best that football has to offer, there is only one sour note: Uefa’s plans to expand the number of teams in the tournament and dilute its quality. For anyone privileged enough to have been in Austria and Switzerland can have no doubts that this is a format that needs no tinkering.

If (when?) UEFA confirm that Euro 2016 will have 24 competing teams, they will do well to append an intention to use the format of the 1982 World Cup in Spain, when there was a second group stage involving four pools of three, the winners of which would procede to the semi finals. The 1986-1994 World Cups allowed four of the six 3rd placed teams to remain in the tournament, with hardly any of them deserving to do so. I recall the words of BBC commentator Gerald Sinstadt at the Uruguay v South Korea match at Italia ‘90; “Uruguay have scored the goal which, I’m sorry to say, will take them into the second round.” Uruguay’s Daniel Fonseca had just scored a last minute winner in a turgid match which ended 1-0, ‘earning’ the unwatchable and conservative South Americans a place in Round 2, where they were duly - and thankfully - beaten 2-0 by Italy.

***

Ronaldinho will not be joining Manchester City, despite a rumoured £200,000 weekly wage being on offer. He was presumably dissuaded by the prospect of a trip to face a village team from the Faroe Islands as Manchester City begin their labyrinthine campaign in the woefully badly formatted and bloated UEFA Cup. It turns out he wants to join Milan, as he wants Champions League football… oh, hang on…

***

There will be virtually no live football on the BBC for a year, before they begin their Championship and Carling Cup contract in August 2009. This means less work for Alan Shearer, a wonderful player in his day but a singularly unilluminating pundit. If only Martin O’Neill didn’t have a proper job, Match of the Day might have a top class studio partnership. Shearer, O’Neill, Hansen and co have now returned from their jolly to Vienna along with an army of ‘roaming reporters’ whose expositions from the fan-mile were as superfluous as they were homogeneous. Happy expenses, lads.

***

Another era ending at the Beeb after Euro 2008 is the career - as a live broadcaster, at least - of John Motson, their sheepskin-wearing, stat-wielding principal commentator, who will carry on working with Match of the Day but will not go to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. We await speculation on who will cover that Final for the BBC, though Jonathan Pearce would be a sound choice. His assured, measured style is far preferable to the big-mouth approach he adopted in the early days of Channel Five in the late 90s and is beginning to echo Barry Davies, who remains criminally wasted doing only the occasional tennis match and Olympic hockey or gymnastics competitions. Davies briefly broke the Motson monopoly at the BBC in the mid-90s, commentating on the 1994 World Cup Final and the FA Cup Finals of 1995 and 1996 and remains the finest sports commentator the country has ever produced.

***

Waitakere Utd, the unremarkable champions of New Zealand, will once again compete in the annual FIFA Club World Cup, one of many unwelcome effects of Australia defecting from the OFC to the AFC despite common sense and geography. New Zealand, a country which cares little for football, are consequentially virtually guaranteed qualification to every Confederations Cup, the next edition of which will take place next year in South Africa as a dress rehearsal for the 2010 World Cup. For European champions Manchester Utd, the trip to Japan in mid-December is another distraction from domestic football after they take on Zenit St Petersburg in the UEFA Super Cup in Monaco on Friday 29th August.

Scarcely can a more wrong letter have ever been published in a national British newspaper than one I now recall in last Sunday’s Observer: “For most fans in this country the tournament has been a minor distraction before the serious business for the proper teams in the Premier League begins again.” The correspondent, a fellow Chelsea fan, I regret to say, goes on to describe the Championships in Austria and Switzerland as a ‘pointless European placebo’.

In one sentence, the writer summed up everything about the Premier League that makes me care less about it than the international game. It is serious. Oh dear. It is business. Ho-hum. It has ‘proper teams’; when has anything in sport been anything other than absurd? Simon Barnes of the Times’ ‘golf principle’ is apt - either all sport is ridiculous or none is. What makes Manchester Utd proper and, by implication, Spain improper?

Most English football fans, incidentally, do not support one of the increasingly inelastic Big Four. Most support somebody like Preston North End, or Gillingham, or Portsmouth, or Sheffield Utd. Most care about England. The only ones who are really apathetic towards England are the one-eyed followers of the Champions League teams, for whom Steven Gerrard playing for England is little more than a needless risk of injury just days before that crucial Champions League group match, most of which are now no more challenging than the average league game.

The UEFA Champions League has many fine qualities but it assumes an importance far out of proportion to its actual emotional connection with the population. A glance at ITV’s ratings history confirms as much. Manchester Utd v Chelsea in Moscow: 14.6 million. England v Argentina, 1998 World Cup: 25 million. The Champions League merely massages the egos of a self-perpetuating elite while being little more than a chance for most fans to watch some football without the shortcomings of partiality. If anything is a footballing placebo, then it is the Champions League. It kids us that if the Big Four are alright, Jack, then all club football must be in fine shape. As any Leeds fan will tell you, it isn’t.

I am grateful to José Mourinho for many reasons but none more than the fact that Chelsea finally winning the league in 2005 makes me obsess less about their results. We’ve done it. Twice. Before Abramovich’s arrival in 2003, I would have not expected two titles in my lifetime. Now, it is not the end of the world if Aston Villa get a late equalizer. Life, as Nick Hornby wrote in “Fever Pitch”, is no longer shit because my club is shit. So football is now enjoyable again.

It helps that international football is the ultimate sporting meritocracy. It is often argued that England’s players under-perform for their country; it might have something to do that when Gerrard, Rooney, Ferdinand and friends play against Croatia or Russia, they are facing greatly superior opponents than on most Premier League matchdays.

Hands up those of you who thought that Euro 2008 would have been improved by any of the trappings of the Premier League? Agents? Interminable, pointless transfer speculation? No thanks. Mercifully, Andrei Arshavin does not play for Russia because it is his contractual duty; he does so because he is proud to do so. Now the Euros are over, we are set to be ‘treated’ to weeks of bitter-tasting contract details, transfer fees and media bullshitting as Chelsea, Arsenal and Barcelona squabble for his services. Please wake me up in August.

I love the Premier League but only the bits between kick-off and full-time. This is because I love football. The game of football, where 22 players agitate a bag of wind for 90 minutes. That is enjoyable. The endless transfer rumour mill that happens ever July isn’t. It is like the long snaking queues that must be endured to board a roller-coaster at Alton Towers. European Championships and World Cups are about football and the enjoyment of it. What will we remember about this year’s tournament in years to come? The fabulous skills, the great games, the colour and the atmosphere. We will have forgotten the media’s self-satisfying pontification on Cristiano Ronaldo’s future, Martin O’Neill’s negotiating of Gareth Barry’s transfer fee while with the BBC’s team in Vienna or Luiz Felipe Scolari’s defection from Portugal to Chelsea.

No shirt sponsors by law, no player transfers, no takeover rumours. International tournaments are as close as the game gets to perfection because they are football at its purest. In other words, they are sport. Real sport. And if England’s absence from one competition has helped us realize that we like football - that is, like watching football matches, not following our club sides with such parochial fervour that reason and fair appreciation become alien concepts - then it might just have been worth it.

So was it any good, then?
Unquestionably, yes. This was a tournament in which teams got exactly what they deserved; the brave teams, the ones who were prepared to play football, get players forward and attempt to entertain the paying public invariably beat the teams who were overcome by nerves and tried to kill the games. If there was a single match in the whole tournament won by an undeserving victor, it escapes me now.

The goal tally is perhaps too crude a measure of the quality of an international tournament but a brief glance at the statistics shows that Euro 2008 had its fair share, its final tally of 77 matching exactly that of four years beforehand in Portugal, showing that the brief panic over a lack of goals in the last World Cup (which had 0.2 fewer goals per game than Euro 2004 or 2008) was an over-reaction to a tournament for which a lot of poor sides qualified.

The atmosphere in Switzerland and Austria was, by and large, lively but peaceful, with only a few incidents of hooliganism. It would be simplistic to put this down to England’s absence as their fans have been largely well behaved in every tournament since they laid waste to Charleroi during Euro 2000 - the truth is more likely to lie in ever-improving policing techniques. It can only be hoped that the South African authorities will know what they’re doing in 2010, though the distance should deter most troublesome European ‘supporters’ from travelling. The Dutch fans were extraordinary, especially during their group matches in Berne.

What really make a tournament are the so-called ‘magic moments’ and there were plenty. Just a few that spring to mind - Pepe’s extraordinary goal for Portugal against Turkey which brought to mind the very best German attacking sweepers Lothar Matthäus and Matthias Sammer; Holland disembowelling the ageing and creaking Italians and French with two superb displays of joyous, ruthless attacking football; David Villa’s clinical hat-trick for Spain against Russia in Innsbruck; Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s belter against Greece which brought to life what had been an extremely dull match; the near-flood in the Switzerland-Turkey match and Arda’s last minute winner; Croatia’s fine win over Germany in Klagenfurt; Gianluigi Buffon’s penalty save from a distraught Adrian Mutu; the ‘mad minute’ in Berne which saw Arjen Robben score a seemingly impossible goal within seconds of Thierry Henry getting France back in the game; Turkey’s late comebacks against the Czech Republic and Croatia; the wonderful quarter-finals between Germany and Portugal, and the Netherlands and Russia, and then again in the semi final between Germany and Turkey.

In one respect the most significant and final goal of the tournament was also the best. By no strand of logic should Spain’s Fernando Torres have overtaken Germany’s left-back Philipp Lahm like an outside-lane Ferrari zipping past a petrol-tanker on a crowded M62 but the Liverpool striker showed he has pace to burn and then finished clinically, lifting the ball over Jens Lehmann. There were more explosive finishes in the tournament - such as Michael Ballack’s ballistic free-kick in the Austria-Germany game - and finer team goals but on no occasion did a player score in such difficult circumstances. Torres did not have a magnificent tournament - he was substituted every time he played - but his immortality is assured.

Can’t all have been beer and skittles, surely?
Well, no, but largely down to UEFA being rather silly. The format of the tournament was pointlessly changed so that the semi finals would be contested between two teams from adjacent groups, effectively dividing the tournament in half until the Final. The effect of this was that we all knew in January that we could not have a Final between Germany and Portugal, or Italy and Spain, or the Netherlands and France. A return to the structure of Euro 2004 when we all land in Poland and Ukraine in four years time would be well-advised; it would have prevented Spain having to beat Russia twice in 17 days this time around, and the period between the two games might have been just four days had the teams been drawn into different positions in the group.

Experience shows us that when two teams meet twice in a summer tournament the second match is not usually very good - see Greece v Portugal in the 2004 Final or Brazil’s World Cup semi-finals against Sweden in 1994 or Turkey in 2002 - but at least in Euro 2004 the re-match was kept back until the Final when it was unavoidable. In a second meeting, both sides will be more likely to know the opposition’s strengths and set about nullifying them.

Furthermore, it somehow didn’t feel quite right that Italy and France, having negotiated the same qualifying section, were lumped together again in Group C; the same in Group D with Spain and Sweden. It would have been the simplest of endeavours for UEFA to contrive a method of keeping teams from the same qualifying group apart in the draw last December.

Didn’t UEFA get anything right?
They can hardly be blamed for the electrical storm in Vienna that disrupted live television coverage but it did inject a degree of farce into an otherwise well-organized tournament, at least in terms of the physical staging of the matches. The speed with which the waterlogged pitch was returned to something approaching playable conditions by the Basel ground staff during half-time of the Switzerland-Turkey match was truly laudable.

If abandoning the perfectly serviceable knock-out phase structure of the previous three tournaments was a folly, UEFA were wiser in returning to the notion, abandoned after Euro 96, that each group should be held wholly in two reasonably proximate stadia, with the group seeds staying in the same place for all of their matches.

With hindsight, it is also easier to defend UEFA’s stance on the seeding at the finals draw last December. Raymond Domenech was incandescent at France being down in the fourth pot with Poland, Turkey and Russia but UEFA rightly base their seeding solely on the results of competitive football matches. France drew too many matches in the World Cup qualifiers against limited opposition from Switzerland, Ireland and Israel, and lost twice to Scotland this time around. They had nobody to blame but themselves.

Besides, it is not as if the laboured senility of their performances screamed at us that they would have done better if only given a slightly more charitable draw. Their 0-0 draw with Romania, one of only three really poor matches in the tournament and by far the single worst, was particularly wretched considering they would have known two tougher challenges lay ahead. Group C’s final table went with seeding; Holland first, Italy second, Romania, then France. And just think, Monsieur Domenech, you were lucky to get Romania. The other three teams in Pot 3 were Germany, Portugal and Spain.

Sorry to bring it up, but how would England REALLY have done?
Rather poorly, based on the evidence of a tournament full of fine attacking football. Suppose for a minute Mladen Petric hadn’t scored at Wembley: Steve McClaren would still have been in charge and England would still be playing the same medieval, one-dimensional football that saw them come unstuck in Zagreb and Moscow and, to a lesser extent, in the dismal goalless draws with Macedonia in Manchester and Israel in Tel Aviv. England are inarguably among the best sixteen teams in Europe - they would surely have caused Austria, Switzerland, Poland, Greece and even France a problem or three - but this is a pointless quibble. You have to earn qualification and McClaren’s England simply would not have deserved to share a stage with Spain, Portugal, Holland, Russia, Turkey or Germany.

Where do we go from here?
Well, Poland and Ukraine in 2012. Probably. UEFA are far from convinced that the two countries are prepared for the next European Championship and Italy, unofficially at this stage, remains on standby. However, such is the state of Italy’s municipal stadia outside Milan and Rome that Germany, regardless of having just held a World Cup, is surely a safer option.

Thereafter, it is almost certain that the competition will be expanded from 16 to 24 countries for Euro 2016. This is a controversial move which some believe will dilute the quality but rank outsiders Austria just about held their own this year and there were many better teams than them - England, Scotland, Denmark, Bulgaria, Serbia, Ukraine - all sitting at home. If a team is not good enough to win the European Championship, let it be determined at the European Championship, not in some out-of-the-way qualifying match in Moldova or Cyprus.

And finally, the (Very Unofficial) Footballing World Euro 2008 Awards…
GOLDEN BOOT: As you may have noticed, it’s Spain’s David Villa with four goals.

PLAYER OF THE TOURNAMENT: With honourable mentions for Andrei Arshavin, Roman Pavlyuchenko, Wesley Sneijder and most of the Spanish team, it goes to Hamit Altintop of Turkey. Ludicrously omitted from UEFA’s Team of the Tournament, the Turkish utility man played at right-back, right-wing and central midfield, bringing energy, commitment and real attacking quality to an extraordinarily boisterous Turkish side. He set up all three goals in the comeback against the Czechs in Geneva, which should be worth a commendation on its own.

GOALKEEPER OF THE TOURNAMENT: Iker Casillas did not have a great deal to do in some of Spain’s matches, so it goes to Poland’s Artur Boruc, without whom the Poles’ already forgettable tournament would have been a disaster.

DUFFER OF THE TOURNAMENT: S’il vous plaît, messieurs, formez une queue ordonnée. But, if you insist on just one, it has to be the most ineffectual left-winger since Michael Foot, Florent Malouda, who, you’ll be delighted to hear, may be about to leave the Premier League.

GOAL OF THE TOURNAMENT: After long consideration, Torres’ magnificent finish in the Final and thunderbolt strikes from Ibrahimovic and Ballack come in just behind Robin van Persie’s goal against France, if only for the superb pirouette-flick from Ruud van Nistelrooy to Arjen Robben.

GAME OF THE TOURNAMENT: Not the best in terms of pure footballing quality, but the semi-final between Germany and Turkey was unforgettable. Played in inclement weather against a blistering performance from the Turks, Germany were ramshackle but still managed to win 3-2 with two fine team goals from Bastian Schweinsteiger and Philipp Lahm.

MOMENT OF THE TOURNAMENT: Without question, it’s the end of extra-time in the Croatia-Turkey quarter-final in Athens. There has never been an ending to a match quite like it; a passage of play that summed up everything special about a Turkey team who made themselves so impossible not to like. Nor had four such dramatic footballing minutes ever been quite so out of context with the dirge that had proceded it.

With a series of spectacular performances, they have finally translated the abundant potential they have so often possessed on paper into performance.

People will ask, with good reason, why Spain’s record has been so unimpressive in the 44 years since their last tournament victory. They have lacked a certain cohesiveness, not helped by vociferous Catalan and Basque separatism. Above all, however, they have been hampered by a lack of self-belief - a lack of belief amongst their players that they could replicate their own, often superb, club displays for their country. Scars were too easy to reopen.

In this sense Spain’s least impressive display, by far, of this superb tournament was their most significant. The penalty victory over Italy in the quarter-finals allayed the doubts inherent in previous Spanish teams. Thrice on June 22nd they have lost penalty shoot-outs. But not here, not this time, thanks to Iker Casillas‘ two penalty saves.

Their fear of penalties, which knocked them out of tournaments in 2000 and 2002; their fear of Italy, their Mediterranean rivals who somehow, always found a way to cheat the footballing gods and triumph; and their fear of the quarter-finals, of which they had lost their last five. In the stroke of a couple of saves, however, all these demons had been exorcised. Spain were also suffused with a sense of freedom. Having beaten Italy - in the quarter-finals and on penalties - there was nothing more to fear. And, whatever happened thereafter, Spain’s tournament would be regarded as a triumph amongst their supporters.

And a triumph it proved to be. Russia, who had overpowered Holland with a performance of astonishing energy in the quarter-finals, were twice thrashed, with and without the inspirational Arshavin. Germany were a side who would test Spain to the limit - not so much in the quality of a limited side, bar Michael Ballack, but in the sense of inevitability a German victory has acquired over their incredible tournament history. Would this re-expose the traditional Spanish frailties? Emphatically not.

Spain’s performance in the final was wonderful, the only shame being their lack of penetration in front of goal. Yet, despite Spanish profilgacy, Germany were never able to seriously challenge their superemacy. In everything they did, Spain were superior, not only to Germany but to all the other teams in the tournament.

They had the tournament’s best goalkeeper in the exceptional Casillas, the most commanding defender in the tremendous Carlos Puyol, the most relentlessly biting midfielder in Marcos Senna and, most significantly, the most potent strikeforce. David Villa showed his clash throughout, the highlight being a phenomenal hat-trick in the 4-1 win over Russia that set the template for so much of what was to follow. Yet, when he was injured for the final, it would have been easy for the Spanish players to bemoan that, once again, the fates seemed to have conspired against them.

Easy, but for the presence of Fernando Torres. His dynamism, pace, positional sense, relish for the big-games and finishing ability lit up the Premier League last campaign, and did the same in this tournament. The highest compliment one can pay to his tournament-winning strike is it seemed so inevitable. At 24, he truly has a chance to become one of the greatest forwards in the game’s history. His international partnership with Villa, only 26, could define the 2010 World Cup.

Torres’ abundant promise mirrors that of his side - this is a team very much on the way up, as evidenced by an unbeaten streak stretching back to 2006. With many players of exquisite gifts not yet at their peak, led by Cesc Fabregas who displayed his artistry and panache in this tournament, Spain now have the opportunity to dominate international football for several tournaments, invigorated by this thoroughly merited victory. It was fitting that Spain, a side brimful of creativity, and attacking to their core, triumphed in an exceptional championship.

While Germany were abject and unappealing, Spain proved to be the contrary. Russia´s defensive tactics were torn apart in the second half and Guus Hiddink was soon facing up to the prospect of another semi-final defeat at a major tournament along with a second three goal loss to the Spanish.

If stereotypes are to be trusted, Germany will win a tight and cagey final and Spain will not take their chances. But Luis Aragones´s team are confident and self-assured, recognising their vast ability. There were no butterflies before the semi-final but instead a boisterous squad ready to reverse their nation´s recent poor form in tournaments.

Fabregas again starred from the bench, assisting in two Spanish goals, though this time had almost an hour to demonstrate his capabilities and readiness on the big stage. He likely deserves a place in the starting line-up on Sunday on the performance alone but it is injury to David Villa that will confirm it.

Spain will certainly miss the predatory instincts of Villa, Euro 2008´s top scorer, in the final. His clinical nature in front of goal is a fresh and much-needed extra dimension to this Spanish outfit, but he will almost definitely miss the match against Germany. Fernando Torres works well in tandem with the Valencia hitman but is also an able lone operator as Liverpool fans can verify. Questions linger over his finishing, however, and whether he can handle the pressure of a nation´s eyes upon him in Vienna.

Fabregas will provide excellent assistance with his fine passing and artistic mind, and neutrals will be supporting Spain for their stylish football and technically gifted footballers.

In Barcelona, Catalans are divided. Many pay no interest to the national side and have scarcely followed their progress through the tournament, attesting they do not support the team and have no interest in them. Fabregas´s superb form, along with fellow Catalans Xavi, Iniesta and Puyol who have all played critical roles in Spain´s campaign, has attracted more interest than usual and the noise of car horns throughout the night suggests a degree of patriotism is still alive despite a lingering desire for autonomy.

If Spain do triumph over Germany, expect joy not just in Castilian regions but across the whole of Spain. Victory at Euro 2008 will boost the entire country, even if some residents will still be closing their eyes come 20.45 on Sunday.

There is a real feeling within the Spanish camp that this tournament could end in glory after so many years of underachievement and having finally made it past the quarter-finals they could well be right. Certainly the talent within Luis Aragones‘ squad is not in question and a highly creative midfield foursome of Silva, Xavi, Iniesta and Senna has been the basis for the Spaniards’ success thus far and they have provided the amunition for the highly effective strike pairing of top scorer David Villa and Fernando Torres.

Certainly Luis Aragones must be given credit for resisiting the urge to place all his creative talent on the field from the start, choosing to start Arsenal dynamo Cesc Fabregas from the bench. In doing so, he has undoubtedly achieved an effective balance between attacking flair and defensive stability. In the form of the excellent Xavi, Aragones possesses one of the most intelligent and talented playmakers in World football and someone he can trust to transform Spain’s galaxy of talented individuals into an efficient attacking unit. Xavi is essentially given the freedom to roam, safe in the knowledge that the exceptional Marcos Senna will be there to clean things up should things break down.

Senna, a naturalised Brazilian, had a superb season for club side Villarreal and has carried that form onto the international scene for his adopted nation and is as responsible as anyone for the position in which Spain now find themselves. Senna’s inclusion ahead of the likes of Xavi Alonso raised eyebrows at the beginning of the tournament though he has more than justified his inclusion in Aragones’ eleven. His ability to break up opposition attacks and then find teammates with laser like precision has been a joy to behold and adds to what makes Spain such an irresistable attacking force.

Though it is not only Xavi who benefits from Senna’s work in front of the back four it also the two widemen, David Silva and Andres Iniesta. Against Italy, the versatility of the two was on full show with the two swapping flanks on numerous occassions to wreak havoc amongst the Italian backline particularly in the closing stages of the first half. Valencia starlet Silva is an exceptional talent and of the four is perhaps the only genuine wideman, he has pace to burn and a wand of a left foot and his experience of playing off the front man at club level allows him to wander into space making it difficult for opposition defenders to track him.

The exceptional Iniesta began his career as the potential heir to Xavi for both Spain and indeed Barcelona though under the tutilage of Frank Rijkaard, Iniesta developed his game playing in the wider positions as opposed to his favoured place in the middle of the park. As a result Iniesta is now a regular for both club and country operating either on the right or left flank. An exceptional passer of the ball, Iniesta already has two assists to his name in this tournament and is given license to drift into space in front of the opposition back four, providing Villa and Torres with plenty of support.

Indeed it is the versatility of the Spanish front six that make them such an efficient attacking side, much in the same vein as Manchester United. Individual talent will only get you so far at this level, as the French will testify, but it is the ability of both the players and the coach to find the right balance that holds the key to success and it certainly appears as though Aragones and his players have found the winning combination.

I have watched every single match, (yes even the repeated ones on the BBC’s iPlayer), and what has impressed me the most has been the level of passion involved. Even the French, who at times seemed like they were playing a friendly match, provided glimpses of determination and nationalistic qualities. But this has been more evident in the team that surprisingly find themselves in the Quarter final after losing their first game - Turkey.

Even with that opening defeat to Portugal, a distant memory 2 weeks ago, Turkey’s drive throughout the match was admirable to say the least. Even with the Portuguese two goals to the good, Turkey always seemed like scoring, but their frustrations got the better of them.

Is it any surprise then, judging by the late chances created by the Turks, that they find themselves in the last four of the competition? In all the three matches since that opening defeat to Scolari’s Portugal, Turkey have scored late goals; when I say late, I’m not saying the last ten minutes, i mean the last kick of the game, literally. It is often a good habit to have if a team can turn around a dire performance for 89 minutes and then come up with the gold in the remaining 1. Just ask Croatia, who were probably still celebrating in their minds when Semih powerfully hit that shot past Plestoika.

But now the Turk’s face Germany. And many will argue that the roller-coaster fairytale comes to a end here. I’m not too convinced. Their is something mildy odd about Turkey. Its not that they are like Greece four years ago, who tactically won the tournament with 1-0 wins and 10 men defensive formations. Rather, the Turks, under a adventurous coach in Fatih Terim, have this amazing spirit, which seems to be carrying them through.

Suspensions, injuries, sending offs, erratic decisions, you name it, Turkey have had it all. There is a old Turkish proverbs that says ‘a man does not seek his luck; luck seeks its man’, and judging by the way the tournament has gone so far, Turkey have acquired quite a fair bit of it so far. Against the Swiss in matchday 2, they turned around a 1-0 deficit in the worst weather conditions which ended being more like a Turkish mud bath. In matchday 3, the conceded 2 goals, yet scored 3 in the last 15 minutes. But confirming that luck is on your side is scoring a last gasp goal against one of the tournament favourites, in injury time of extra time, after they had scored two minutes earlier.

So far, Turkey have scored when it has mattered,, and that is the key thing about this run to the semi-final. It was sad seeing a excellent Croatia side knocked out, but then it is quite endearing seeing Turkey prod along with the problems they face. They have lost Tuncay to suspension for the upcoming game with Germany, whilst the have lost Nihat (hero of the game with the Czech’s) to a long term injury. That being said, and with talk of a third choice keeper playing upfront, Germany might be rubbing their hands with joy. One thing they cannot take for granted however, is that for Turkey have the spirit. The body of the Turkish team is slowly decapitating as the tournament goes on, but as Robert Louis Stevenson said, you can ‘kill the body, but not the spirit’.

Germany v Turkey, WED, BBC 1, 7.30pm