EMMET MALONE: TEAM OF THE TOURNAMENT: (4-5-1) Casillas (Spain); Sergio Ramos (Spain), Chiellini (Italy), Pepe (Portugal), Grosso (Italy); Sneijder (Holland), Fabregas (Spain), Ballack (Germany), Arshavin (Russia), Podolski (Germany); Villa (Spain).

COACH: Fatih Terim. He'd probably deserve it for the coolness with which he told his men to pick themselves up, the ball out of the net and play when Croatia scored late on in the quarter-final but to get the performance he did out of such a depleted side against Germany in the next round was remarkable.

BEST PLAYER: Both of last night's finalists had a few contenders but Cesc Fabregas was consistently outstanding even though he only started one of Spain's five games before the final. Having scored his first international goal as Luis Aragones' side ripped Russia apart in their group stage meeting, he was outstanding in the semi-final rematch, having a hand in all three goals and turning in one of the performances of the tournament.

BEST NEWCOMER: Though banned for the first two games, Andrei Arshavin exploded into the competition in the make-or-break meeting with Sweden and played a key part in the quarter-final demolition of the Dutch. At 27, he's clearly been around a bit and had already attracted interest from leading clubs in the big leagues but the range of talents he displayed have many of Europe's top clubs scurrying for his signature.

BEST GOAL: Nihat Kahveci's winner against the Czech Republic was stunning. Having just seen their lead evaporate, the Czech defence fell apart, allowing the Villarreal striker to advance towards the edge of the box unchallenged but the finish was extraordinary, with Petr Cech left helpless as the ball curled into the top right-hand corner.

BEST SAVE: Iker Casillas, Gianluigi Buffon and Edwin van der Sar all looked impressive but Gregory Coupet's finger tip save of Fabio Grosso's free just before half-time in the France-Italy group game was breathtaking. At first it appeared the shot had just struck the post directly but replays showed the goalkeeper getting just enough of a touch to make the difference.

BEST MATCH: A few contenders for this one after what has been a cracking tournament. Holland versus France, Turkey against the Czech Republic and Germany's defeat of Portugal are amongst those that stand out but the semi-final between Germany and Turkey just about gets the nod.

With so many players either suspended or injured, Fatih Terim had been expected to get men behind the ball and try to nick something against the pre-tournament favourites.

Instead, they went all out for goals and while they didn't quite pull it off, the attempt was thrilling to watch.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT: For the locals and organisers, seeing the two host nations going out in the group stages was a major blow but for the wider world and the French were desperately poor.

PADDY AGNEW:

TEAM OF THE TOURNAMENT: (4-2-3-1) Casillas (Spain); Sergei Ramos (Spain), Simunic (Croatia), Chiellini (Italy), Zhirkov (Russia); Senna (Spain), Ballack (Germany); Schweinsteiger (Germany), Fabregas (Spain), Modric (Croatia); Pavlyuchenko (Russia).

BEST COACH: Guus Hiddink. This is perhaps the easiest call to make. Hiddink's performance, in guiding Russia to the semi-finals after an opening match 4-1 loss, was remarkable even by his extraordinary standards.

BEST PLAYER: Cesc Fabregas of Spain even if he started this tournament on the substitutes bench, Fabregas was still mature enough to come on after half an hour against Russia in the semi-final and prove himself the match winner. Again given the context, this was a remarkable performance. With his vision, technique and (at least until last night) his winning temperament, he looks like one of, if not the outstanding player at Euro 2008.

BEST NEWCOMER: Andrei Arshavin. At 27, it is a bit cheeky to flag Arshavin as a "newcomer" but the fact is that, even allowing for his role in Zenit St Petersburg's Uefa Cup win this year, Euro 2008 represented his true arrival on the international stage. Outstanding against both Sweden and Holland, he rather blotted his copy book with an anonymous performance in Russia's 3-0 semi-final loss to Spain, but he was not the only Russian to disappoint that night.

BEST GOAL: Xavi Hernandez, Russia v Spain. There are a lot of candidates in this category - Sneijder's goal for Holland against Italy, Pavlyuchenko's for Russia against Sweden, Arshavin's for Russia against Holland to name but a few. Given not only its technical brilliance but also its contextual importance, though, we go for Spain's first goal against Russia in their Vienna semi-final, scored by Xavi Hernandez.

BEST SAVE: Gigi Buffon, Italy v Romania. Had Buffon not made that dramatic 80th minute save of an Adrian Mutu penalty in the 80th minute of Italy's first-round game against Romania, Italy's disappointing Euro 2008 would have been over after just two games. Given the context, this was one hell of a save even if luck went with Buffon in that he saved it first with his leg and then his hand.

BEST MATCH: The Netherlands v Russia, quarter-final. Already in their 2-0 first-round win against Sweden, the Russians had served notice that they could play just a bit. The manner in which the team came back from the crushing blow of a late equaliser in normal time to go out and again dominate the match in extra-time remains one of the tournament highlights.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT: Italy. The world champions started disastrously with that 3-0 drubbing by Holland and never really recovered. Almost eliminated in their second game by Romania, the Italians ended the tournament with a dour, defensive performance.