The Euro 2016 tournament was one to remember for the fans and it threw up plenty of twists and turns with a number of teams upsetting the form book. In the end, it was Portugal who triumphed 1-0 over France in an intriguing final.
There were plenty of brilliant individual performances right through the tournament and it was no easy task to pick the team of the tournament. Lots of established stars and new ones took the tournament by storm and we attempt to pick the best XI keeping in mind their performances throughout this tournament.
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Goalkeeper
The position between the sticks was a toss-up between Portugal’s Rui Patricio and France’s Hugo Lloris. Both the goalkeepers had an excellent tournament, but Rui Patricio just edges out Lloris thanks to his brilliant performance in the final.
In a tournament where the goalkeepers have excelled, it was pretty apt that it was the custodian of the champions who produced a phenomenal performance in between the sticks. He pulled off save after save, notable ones being Sissoko’s two fierce strikes and Antoine Griezmann’s floating header which he tipped over.
With a man of the match performance in the final and good performances right throughout the tournament, Rui Patricio deserves to be the goalkeeper of this team.
Defenders
Leanardo Bonucci and Pepe form the menacing centre-back pairing for this team. Bonucci was arguably the best defender of this tournament, cutting out any threats effectively with his brilliant positioning skills and tackling.
Pepe was the rock on which the Portuguese defence was built and the most solid defensive team in the tournament had an excellent leader in Real Madrid’s star, Pepe. Although the Portuguese centre-back missed the semi-final, he put in an accomplished performance in the final, playing a major role in his side keeping a clean sheet against France.
Raphael Guerriero put in some solid performances in the initial matches, but he really burst into life in the semi-final, where he provided an amazing assist and was solid defensively throughout the match. The young Portuguese left-back was also very good in the final and always provided an attacking outlet on the flanks for Portugal.
The right-back position is taken by Bayern Munich’s young star Joshua Kimmich. The youngster kept out a more experienced Benedikt Howedes out of the side with his good performances. Be it last ditch tackles, or providing dangerous crosses into the boxes, Kimmich put in accomplished performances right through this tournament.
Midfielders
Dimitri Payet started off the tournament with a bang scoring two wonderful goals to set France underway. Although he faded away slightly in the latter stages of the tournament, Payet’s performances in the initial few matches merit his spot in this team.
Portugal’s Renato Sanches has been the find of the tournament. The Bayern Munich starlet was considered to be one of the most promising youngsters before the start of this tournament and he has done his reputation no harm with some stunning performances for Portugal in the Euros.
Aaron Ramsey was in stunning form for Wales this tournament and some people believe that it was his absence in the semi-final which cost Wales a spot in the final. The Arsenal star was full of running and creativity and was an important part of Wales’ historic Euro 2016 campaign. Ramsey was arguably the best midfielder of the tournament.
Forwards
The star-studded forward line-up is made of the amazing trio of Cristiano Ronaldo, Antoine Griezmann and Gareth Bale. Gareth Bale led his Wales side admirably putting the team above self and he also scored a couple of brilliant free-kicks to leave his mark on the tournament. Bale just edges out Portugal’s Nani who also had a very impressive tournament for Portugal.
On the left-wing we have none other than Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese superstar might have started the tournament slowly, but he burst into life in the final group game against Hungary scoring one of the best goals of the tournament. He also scored a vital header in the semi-final and although he limped off injured in the final, his motivational and leadership skills played a major role in Portugal’s success.
Antoine Greizmann won the Golden Boot award for France and he was arguably the best player of the tournament. The Atletico Madrid striker lit up the tournament with his 6 goals and he was really unlucky to end up on the losing side.
Now that the team is done, let us look at how they line up and who the reserves are for this wonderful team.
Formation and Substitutes
The team lines up in a 4-3-3 formation. Portuguese shotstopper Rui Patricio takes the goalkeeper slot, while the back 4 is made up of Guerreiro-Pepe-Bonucci and Kimmich. The midfield is full of running and creativity with France’s Dimitri Payet, Portugal’s Renato Sanches and Wales’ Aaron Ramsey taking the 3 spots.
The forwards line-up is the stuff of fantasy football dreams with Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Antoine Griezmann completing the team. Here are the substitutes for this team.
Hugo Lloris, Jerome Boateng, Laurent Koscielny, Andres Iniesta, Nani, Bacary Sagna and Mesut Ozil.
