Player Of The Tournament

The player of the tournament award has been handed out to the outstanding player of the European Championships each tournament since 1996. The winners of the European Championships Best Player Award can be found below.

The Player Of The Tournament Award is very likely to go to a player who reaches at least the semi final as four games isn’t really enough to show what you are made of at a major international tournament. Each year so far it has actually gone to the winner so likely finalists and preferably likely winners should be the teams to concentrate on.

So far it has not only gone to a player from the winning team, but has gone to a midfielder from each winning team. In fact, if you want to narrow it down even more it has gone to a central midfielder, so on evidence so far you only need to pick between two or three players from the team you think will win the European Championships.

This means it is best to start off with teams that are most likely to make up the semi finals at the absolute least. Check out the Euro 2012 draw to decide which teams should go the furthest or check out our Name The Finalists page.

Euro 2012 Player Of The Tournament Contenders

Spain

Any one of Spain's attacking players could end up as players of the tournament, Cesc Fabregas, Andres Iniesta, David Silva, Xavi, David Villa or Fernando Torres. The main two to concentrate on are the two that pull the most strings, Xavi and Andres Iniesta look the two to concentrate. Xavi took the honours four years ago but this time around Andres Iniesta could be given more credit due to the fact that many thought he could have won it at Euro 2008, Iniesta gets the vote for Spain narrowly over Xavi although if you fancy Spain to win Euro 2012 then it may not be a bad idea to back them both.

Germany

Germany's most likely contender for the Player Of The Tournament is probably Real Madrid star Mezut Ozil. He was one of a few young stars for Germany to light up the World Cup and although Thomas Muller is capable of catching a few eyes for Germany Mezut Ozil is the man who makes things happen as he roams across the pitch.

Presuming Germany have at least a decent European Championships (getting to the semi final) then Ozil will have plenty of opportunity to shine and he may be a little underestimated by the bookies.

Holland

Holland were very impressive at the World Cup and no player caught the eye more than Wesley Sneijder. He was not only their best player at the World Cup but also their top scorer, in fact he was the joint top scorer at the entire tournament despite being an attacking midfielder. He plays in the right sort of position to be a major contender for this and appeals by far as the most likely winner for Holland but there has to be a suspicion that many teams didn't see Holland coming at the World Cup and teams could pay more attention to players such as Sneijder now giving them less space to play and less of a chance to impress. Sneijder is a fair price to be Player Of The Tournament but he will probably only win it if Holland win the European Championships and we think Spain, Germany and even maybe Portugal have better credentials.

England

England play with their hearts on their sleeves and no one sums up their fighting spirit more than Wayne Rooney. He works extremely hard, scores goals and creates them and this season for Man Utd he has looked as good as ever. Rooney seems to have become more focussed on his football over the past 18 months, he has lost weight and is contributing to the team more than ever and if England get as far as the semi finals he is the standout choice for England as far as Player Of The Tournament is concerned.

The chances of England reaching the semi final may not be as good as the bookies suggest (England are the fourth favourites currently) and that appears to be the main risk with backing Wayne Rooney to be the Player Of The Tournament but he looks worth at least some interest presuming he can stay injury free.

France

The most impressive player for France can often be lively winger Franck Ribery but he can often be a player who flatters to deceive despite being very highly rated by many pundits. Even if France were set for a semi final appearance at least it would be a bit of a surprise if any of their players won the Player Of The Tournament, Ribery may be their best chance but he doesn't exactly scream out a value bet.

Italy

Italy are a defensive side so look at their defence, defensive midfielders and their goalkeeper for the most likely players to win the player of the tournament. Their two most likely contenders this year could be defender Giorgio Chiellini and midfielder Danielle De Rossi. The problem for these two players is that neither of them are too flash or the sort of players who will catch everyone's eye whilst Italy might not get far enough at Euro 2012 for any of their players to win Player Of The Tournament. Out of the two it is Chiellini who just gets the nod but unless you really fancy Italy to do well it could be worth giving both players a miss.

Portugal

Only one player in with a shout here, Cristiano Ronaldo. He has bags of skill and the end product to match. You don’t score 30+ goals every season unless you are exceptional and with showboating likely at every opportunity he won’t fail to catch viewers’ attentions.

Cristiano Ronaldo may not fit the previous stats for winners of the Player Of The Tournament at the European Championships by being a central midfielder but if there is an exception to the rule it has to be Ronaldo, he is generally considered to be the second best player in the world behind Lionel Messi and since Messi won't be involved here then Ronaldo is probably the best player at Euro 2012.

The Verdict

So which of these do we pick? Ronaldo will be a popular choice but Portugal might need to reach the semi finals for him to play enough games. That isn't impossible, in fact Portugal look one of the most overpriced teams at Euro 2012, but with other quality sides in the running Ronaldo may not offer the best value even if he does have a good chance of winning.

Our best bet in this market is Mesut Ozil for Germany. Germany are fancied to have a very big tournament and unlike Spain they have shown themselves to be a team that scores plenty of goals at the major tournaments so the fact that Ozil should have a hand in plenty of German goals just gives him the edge over Andres Iniesta for Spain. The Spaniards should have a good tournament and Iniesta is a solid choice but we just fancy Germany to impress more than the team that knocked them out in the World Cup semi final two years ago.

The other player with outstanding claims is Wayne Rooney and if you could guarantee England would reach the final then he would be first choice but England look unlikely to reach the final so he is perhaps in a disadvantaged position compared to Ozil and Iniesta.

Back Mesut Ozil to be Player Of The Tournament

Back Andres Iniesta to be Player Of The Tournament

Back Wayne Rooney to be Player Of The Tournament