European Football Championship 2008: Cream of the crop

There’s been some movement at the top of the Castrol Performance Index rankings, with some familiar faces coming into form at exactly the right time…

Frenchman Grégory Coupet was the top custodian following the Euro 2008 qualifiers, thanks to five clean sheets in the last seven qualifiers. After a quiet evening keeping goal against England, however, the Lyon stopper found himself making way for Germany’s indisputable no.1, Jens Lehmann, who made the most of what was a final chance to impress before the tournament squads are announced in May.

Although Lehmann has been unable to hold down a regular spot in Arsène Wenger’s Arsenal side he’s been inspirational for ‘Die Nationalelf’. After conceding just seven goals in qualifying, in Switzerland last week he displayed immense powers of concentration in a one-sided game. Germany won 4-0, and enjoyed long periods of possession, but the Swiss managed 10 shots, all of which Lehmann dealt with comfortably – and the Arsenal man also covered a respectable 4,565 metres.

Gianluigi Buffon climbed up from 10th position despite Italy losing 1-0 to Spain. He could do little to keep out David Villa’s stunning, left-footed volley, but was on hand to perform an incredible double save from firstly Fernando Torres, then Villa. He also saved at his near post from Cesc Fabregas.

ORANJE BOOM

Netherlands centre-back Johnny Heitinga replaced Greece’s Sotirios Kyrgiakos at the top of the defender rankings courtesy of a ‘busy’ performance against Austria. It wasn’t looking good as the Oranje found themselves 3-0 down after 35 minutes away at co-hosts Austria, but Klass Jan Huntelaar struck to spark a comeback, and then Heitinga sprang into points-accruing action, scoring at the far post from Rafael van der Vaart’s cross and preventing the home side from adding to their score with some excellent defensive play. The Ajax defender also racked up the top speed in the game – an impressive burst of 32.4km/h.

HIGH CLIMBERS

It was musical chairs at the top of the midfield rankings. Following Spain’s win in Madrid, Spanish schemer Xavi replaced the Netherlands’ Wesley Sneijder – who conceded 144 points after relinquishing possession in key areas in Austria. Greece’s Giorgios Karagounis climbed to third place with a brace of free-kicks against Portugal, while moving up to fifth was 31-year-old Mauro Camoranesi, who shone for the Azzurri and had goalscoring opportunities.

PODOLSKI APPLIES THE PRESSURE

Luca Toni failed to score against Spain – and having seen one goal disallowed and missing a clear header, the Bayern Munchen striker conceded 44 points. He remains well clear at the top of the rankings, but German duo Lukas Podolksi and Miroslav Klose have closed the gap. Podolski scored after coming on as a sub against Switzerland and set up team-mate Mario Gomez for his second – a performance that left coach Joachim Low conceding that the 22-year-old could start in an attacking midfield role this summer behind Klose and Gomez.

For more news on the European Football Championship 2008 please visit http://www.castrolindex.com

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