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World Player of the Week: Xabi Alonso - Spain
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0-1 | Spain | Spain | 2-0 | France |
Xabi Alonso is one of the finest passers of the ball in modern football and the Real Madrid playmaker exhibited his undeniable class in Spain's comfortable victory over France in the Euro 2012 quarter-final clash on Saturday.
Alonso was making his 100th appearance for the reigning European and world champions, and demonstrated a performance to remember forever. Dominating the midfield, the 30-year-old was the architect of La Roja's 2-0 win against Laurent Blanc's side.
The former Real Sociedad and Liverpool star broke the deadlock for Spain with a well-taken header after 19 minutes, and added his second in the final minute from the penalty spot to set up a semi-final clash with Iberian rivals Portugal.
He also played his usual reliable role in the hard-fought win over Croatia last Monday, receiving the ball 100 times and completing 89 per cent of his passes.
| Congratulations to Xabi Alonso, Goal.com's 162nd World Player of the Week winner! |
Honourable Mentions
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Ola Kamara - Stromsgodset The Norwegian attacker scored a hat-trick to help his side to a 3-3 draw with Rosenborg, leapfrogging Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's Molde at the top of Norway's Tippeligaen in the process. |
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Sami Khedira - Germany |
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Andrea Pirlo - Italy The playmaker was the star of the show against England, as Italy won the quarter-final clash 4-2 on penalties. Pirlo was majestic in his passing and also scored a beautiful spot-kick during the shoot-out. |
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Cristiano Ronaldo - Portugal The forward continued to light up the European Championship as he spearheaded Portugal's march to the last four with his match-winning header against Czech Republic. Ronaldo also hit the post twice. |
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David Trezeguet - River Plate The French striker scored both goals in River Plate's 2-0 victory against Almirante Brown to hand Matias Almeyda's side promotion to the first division, a year after they were relegated. |
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On Sunday, we encouraged our readers to nominate their choices for the best player of the week. Here are some of the comments we received:
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"Andrea Pirlo should definitely win the award for leading the Italians to the semis. He played consistently well in all of Italy's matches, creating almost every chance. In addition to that, his penalty against England was simply genius."
Jeewan Panta in Nepal, though, disagreed with John and cast his vote in favour of Portuguese star Ronaldo.
"Ronaldo once again showed his immense mental strength and determination to propel Portugal to the semi-finals. Goal.com should give him the award."
Danny in Indonesia explained why Spain's Alonso should be given the honour.
"It must be awarded to Xabi Alonso. He was able to keep up with the rapid passes of Xavi and Andres Iniesta, made splendid tackles, ran tirelessly, never lost composure and, more importantly, showed a terrific sense of timing when moving forward."
Raheeb in Palestine wanted Sweden international forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic to be recognised for his performance against France in their final group stage game at the European Championship.
"Zlatan Ibrahimovic should definitely win the Goal.com World Player of the Week because of his wonderful display and unforgettable goal against France. He was the man who carried the rest of his team on his shoulders throughout the group stage. He is a great player and deserves this recognition."