Awards and all that bollocks

Player of the Tournament

Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany)

Bastian was pretty much the best central midfielder on show here, and would have improved almost any side at the tournament. Even against Spain, where he was outmatched by Xavi, Xabi and Iniesta, he still raged brilliantly against the dying of the light, getting stuck in and almost waging a one man war at times. His performances against Australia, England and Argentina were superb, especially the latter. A great tournament for a young man who initially promised sporadically as a winger, and now seems completely at home in central midfield.

The runners up were Iniesta, who got better as the tournament went on and deserved to score the winner in the final, and obviously Forlan, who was immense for Uruguay.

Young player of the tournament

Thomas Mueller (Germany)

Could have been either Meuller or Oezil here, Mueller just gets the nod. He looked fairly average to me in the Champions League, but here was exceptional attacking from the right. Decent technique, direct, a good finisher, a good worker and great off the ball movement made Mueller a key part of the German counter-attacking machine.

Runners-up: Oezil, who should have a great future; De Wiel, who I though defended pretty well, and did a decent job on Iniesta 'til he started coming inside a bit more.

Game of the Tournament

England vs Germany

Whilst not in any sense enjoyable at the time, aside from a certain masochistic amusement when the fourth goal went in, this game was by far the best in the tournament: calamitous defending, controversial decisions, great goals, and it should finally send the message to English fans that we are second tier. Perhaps the only disappointment about the game is that Lampard's goal wasn't allowed to stand: a 6-2 defeat might have been even more extraordinary.

Runners up: there aren't many to choose from, really. Urugay vs Ghana was fairly epic, Argentina vs Germany was like England vs Germany without the emotional attachment or drama, Uruguay vs Holland was dramatic but fairly low quality ... the last twenty minutes of Slovakia vs Italy were great.

Goal of the tournament

Fuck it, due to the BBC's bizarre omission of it from their goal of the tournament, it was Bendtner vs Cameroon: a precise howitzer pass from Kjaer, perfect first touch from Rommedahl, a brilliant low cross, finish by the underrated Bendtner (I know he usually looks shit, but the lad's shaping up to be a genuine clutch player at times).

Runners-up: Luis Fabiano vs Chile, where a lovely Kaka pass sent him through, Tevez vs Mexico, a bomb of a shot.

Biggest Disappointment

I don't think Italy or France's campaigns were that unexpected, frankly; so the biggest disappointment must be the form of Wayne Rooney. I have harboured the belief that Rooney's injury at the end of March and too-soon return to action majorly affected his form and led to his terrible performances, but I think some analysis of his ability to cope with the pressure of being England's key man is too much for him is probably necessary; he seemed to shrink under the pressure of hype that he would be capable of leading England to the final or somewhere near. I find the gripes that Rooney should have been played in a lone centre forward role to get the best out of him hilarious at this point: Rooney's touch and feel for the ball and his fitness level were highly questionable, and would probably have been exposed even more as a lone centre forward. Frankly, he was poor, and whilst I'm sure a few good games for United will have the media raving again, I don't know that I will forget this in a hurry.

Team of the Tournament

Obviously this isn't going to be a team with the eleven best players of this tournament in, I'm far too biased against Spain for that ...

Casillas (Spain); Lahm (Germany), Puyol (Spain), Lucio (Brazil). Coentrao (Portugal); Annan (Ghana), Schweinsteiger (Germany); Mueller (Germany), Iniesta (Spain), Villa (Spain); Forlan (Uruguay)

Subs: Eduardo (Portugal), Ramos (Spain), Friedrich (Germany), Van Bronckhorst (Holland), Xavi (Spain), Boateng (Ghana), Ozil (Germany), Sneijder (Holland), Robben (Holland), Suarez (Uruguay), Honda (Japan)

Casillas was wonderful in the knockout stages, Lahm just creeps ahead of Ramos, Lucio survives despite Brazil's capitulation to Holland, Coentrao looks one to watch, I loved Annan and Schweinsteiger, and kept banging on about them. Mueller and Forlan are obvious picks who need no explaining. Villa looked an absolute star playing from the left, and to be honest, Spain should have kept him there throughout the latter stages, and might not have needed extra time in the final.