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Euro 2012 Team of Matchday 3: Cristiano Ronaldo & Cassano save their best for final group games
Jun 19, 2012 7:24:00 AM
The Portugal star made up for past errors in the tournament with a fantastic contribution while the Italian shone against Ireland as the Seleccao and Azzurri made the last eight
The Euro 2012 quarter-finalists have been decided after a frantic final set of group-stage fixtures that saw a number of individuals put in star performances in the hope of helping their countries progress. Goal.com takes you through the players who stepped up for their national teams.Beginning with the goalkeeper, one cannot ignore the display of Stephan Andersen against Germany. The Danish shot-stopper did brilliantly to deny Thomas Muller in the early stages and also stopped Andre Schurrle later on in a losing cause.
At the back, Portugal have been one of the more impressive sides at Euro 2012 so far and the strong play of Pepe against Netherlands in their final pool match helped them emerge from the 'Group of Death'. Croatia and Gordon Schildenfeld in particular can feel aggrieved at their elimination after a fine performance against trophy holders Spain and John Terry was a prime example of England's team-work and effort, keeping the defence organised as Ukraine piled on the pressure.
Moving into midfield, Steven Gerrard proved to be the Three Lions' assist man once more and was once again a bright spot for Roy Hodgson's side. Bastian Schweinsteiger's disciplined and effective performance shutting down Denmark's attacking midfielders certainly did not grab the headlines, but earned him a second cap in our Best XI.
Petr Jiracek was named Goal.com's Player of the Week after he helped the Czech Republic to surprisingly top Group A with a well-placed winner. Greece were led to a shock quarter-final berth by captain Giorgos Karagounis, who emphatically struck home to claim a 1-0 win over much-fancied Russia. Elsewhere, Cristiano Ronaldo was the first player to earn a perfect five-star rating from Goal.com at Euro 2012 following his decisive two-goal display against Netherlands.
Up front we have two AC Milan strikers, starting with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, whose world-class volley gave Sweden a 1-0 win over France despite an early exit from the tournament and Italy squeaked into the quarter-finals with Antonio Cassano a step ahead of the rest in the 2-0 success over Republic of Ireland.
| ANDERSEN |
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| PEPE |
SCHILDENFELD | TERRY |
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| PORTUGAL |
CROATIA | ENGLAND |
| GERRARD | SCHWEINSTEIGER |
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| ENGLAND | GERMANY |
| JIRACEK | KARAGOUNIS | RONALDO |
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| CZECH REPUBLIC |
GREECE | PORTUGAL |
| IBRAHIMOVIC |
CASSANO |
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| SWEDEN |
ITALY |
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