All Euro 2012 Team: Best Starting 11 at the Euros

Published by William | Filed under Euro 2012, Previews

Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo is the Euro 2012 highest rated player

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The Euros are fast approaching and we wanted to give our trusted readers a pre- All Euro Starting 11. Of course, with the Ronaldo’s, Ribery’s, and the Rooney’s, this lineup is likely to change as the Euro comes to a close. Some of the world’s best will be on display in Poland/Ukraine but not all of them perform when it comes to international duty. Read on to see who makes the cut, and who gets the shaft.


Bench:
Wayne Rooney
Mario Gomez
Mesut Ozil
David Silva
Bastian Sweinstieger
Frank Ribery
Xabi Alonso
Sergio Ramos
Patrice Evra
John Terry
Manuel Neuer
Petr Cech


Making lineups and picking starters, as any coach will admit, is never an easy task. At least on paper, I don’t have to deal with egos and personalities. In any given day, this particular bench could easily beat the starting lineup. Leaving Spanish and German players out of the best 11 is always hard, so see my reasoning below.


There are a couple of positions that could go either way. Wayne Rooney for example, could be replaced with Zlatan Ibrahimovic in attack alongside Van Persie. As none of my picks for the striker position won their respective leagues this season, I have the Swedish gypsy leading the attack. Ibrah, do not forget, before this year, had won an impressive 9 consecutive League Championships (Ajax, Juventus, Inter Milan, Barcelona, and AC Milan). Wherever Ibrah goes, and he travels a lot, he wins the league. There is one thing though that has eluded the Swede. Ibrah has never won the Champions League, where each club he leaves always seems to win the Cup the following year.


Rooney is no doubt the work horse, but when you have Iniesta and Xavi behind dictating play, Ibrah has the skill to finish in tighter spaces.





Another debatable position is that of left and right backs. I had to include an English and a German somewhere in the starting 11, right? No, these guys deserve it. Although, if Brazil were in the Euros, we would have a different story. Few English, French and Italians made the list, but I don’t think that is too big of a surprise.


So, this is my all-star all-Euro 2012 squad. With 5 proven goalscorers, this lineup could be considered too offensive. But, as the saying goes, offense is the best defense. By all means disagree.