European Football Championship 2008 - Decisions, decisions

The Frenchman is one of six players who, by Castrol Index’s reckoning, are worthy of starting berths, but they’ve yet to convince their coaches…

Patrice Evra, France

Eric Abidal played 977 minutes in qualifying, compared to Evra’s 90, in a defence that leaked just five goals – Les Blues have shipped just 0.48 goals per game since 2004 – but are France missing a trick? Evra was ever-present for a Manchester United backline that conceded just 22 league goals all season, while his marshalling of Lionel Messi in the Champions League would have seen him score highly in the CPI. “Patrice is the best around,” states one Internet blogger. “I don’t know how Abidal starts ahead of Evra for France… more fool them.”

Jose Bosingwa, Portugal

Chelsea’s new £16 million man Bosingwa has Valencia’s Luis Miguel ahead of him in the race for the right full-back slot, Miguel playing 10 qualifiers to Bosingwa’s five. But the latter impressed as Porto kept 21 clean sheets and conceded just 20 goals in a title-winning season; Miguel, meanwhile, endured a disastrous campaign, culminating in a 6-0 mauling by Barcelona.

Karim Benzema, France

Franck Ribery may believe Thierry Henry will “turn it on in the finals”, but the ex-Gunner has underperformed at Barcelona. And 29-year-old Nicolas Anelka started just 10 games at Chelsea (though French journalist Mario Albano insists the striker “has matured and become a leader”). In contrast, Lyon’s Benzema has 25 goals, and his Champions League effort against the Red Devils – surrounded by Europe’s best defenders, he fired into the bottom right-hand corner from 20 yards – would have scored big CPI points.

Filippo Inzaghi & Alessandro del Piero, Italy

Roberto Donadoni is certain to use CPI top man Luca Toni up front, but 34-year-old ‘Pippo’ Inzaghi could usurp Antonio di Natale, another high Castrol performer. “It’s up to Donadoni to decide if I would be useful,” said Inzaghi, who has nine goals in his last six games and an almost identical goals-per-game average as Toni (0.44 to Toni’s 0.45).

Alessandro del Piero, meanwhile, has adopted a more direct approach. The 33-year-old, with 19 goals for Juve this season, said recently: “My dear Roberto, take a look at how I’m doing. And if you need a nice bottle of wine, I can send you some.”

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Netherlands

After returning from ankle surgery, Ruud van Nistelrooy is primed to play as the Oranje’s lone striker or spearhead a 4-3-3. Yet youngster Huntelaar hit a hat-trick last week to make it 102 goals in 136 Eredivisie matches. With 0.6 goals per game compared to Ruud’s 0.5, and 0.02 shots per minute in qualifying next to Ruud’s 0.012, Huntelaar looks a different Klaas…

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

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