Who would have imagined, on the eve of Euro 2008, that Cristiano Ronaldo would be outshone by a young man named Arda Turan, that Fernando Torres would be eclipsed by David Villa, at least until the final, or that Petr Cech would be a liability in goal for the Czech Republic?

Only one England-based player, Michael Ballack, makes our team of the tournament, which raises the question of whether it is possible to shine in a competition at the end of a Barclays Premier League campaign. Or maybe the rest of Europe is just better than we think.

Team of the tournament (4-2-3-1)

Iker Casillas (Spain) Was his country's match-winner against Italy - not only in the penalty shoot-out - and a worthy recipient of the trophy.

Hamit Altintop (Turkey) Excelled at right back and in midfield, and is, above all, a footballer.

Pepe (Portugal) The competition was lacking in defensive brilliance, but Pepe, born in Brazil, impressed. Could be world-class if he matures as a player.

Carlos Marchena (Spain) Grew in stature as his team progressed. Not the quickest, strongest or most physically imposing, but reads the game.

Yuri Zhirkov (Russia) Sound defensively and enterprising going forward from left back.

Marcos Senna (Spain) Another Brazilian with a European passport, he did an essential job for his adopted country.

Michael Ballack (Germany) A runner-up again, but not for want of trying. At times, against Austria and Portugal, he threatened to run this tournament.

Wesley Sneijder (Holland) No shortage of attacking flair in this tournament, but no player came close to Sneijder early on.

Andrei Arshavin (Russia) Truly mesmerising in his playmaker's role against Sweden and Holland.

Arda Turan (Turkey) Two-footed and blessed with vision as well as great technique.

David Villa (Spain) Absent from the final, but no one should forget what Villa had done for Spain to that point, even if he scored only once after his hat-trick against Russia in his opening match.

Subs: Artur Boruc (Poland), Giorgio Chiellini (Italy), Philipp Lahm (Germany), Deco (Portugal), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany), Lukas Podolski (Germany), Roman Pavlyuchenko (Russia)