Paddy Agnewon how a player who was due to feature as a substitute has proven the ace in Joachim Loew's pack.

IF YOU HAD to name a German player who epitomises the clichéd view of the indomitable German footballer, albeit in a very modern version, then 23-year-old Bastian Schweinsteiger might be your man. Tall, blond and formidably athletic, he just happens to have the useful habit of scoring key goals in this tournament, against Portugal in the quarter-finals and Turkey in the semi-final.

With his punk hairstyle, his defiantly strong Teutonic looks and that oh so German name (Mr Piggy would be a very loose translation), he is every schoolboy's idea of the German prototype. With his pace and his adaptability, he has proved to be a winning ace in coach Joachim Loew's pack.

He came into this tournament seemingly destined for a role on the substitutes' bench. After all, he had a very poor, illness-interrupted season with Bayern Munich. Yet, with Germany leading 1-0 in their opening match against Poland but not looking good, Loew turned to him. Schweinsteiger's response was a typically "committed" performance which earned him a yellow card within eight minutes of coming on for defender Clements Fritz.

Brought on in the 66th minute of Germany's traumatic 2-0 defeat by Croatia in their next game, this time instead of disappointing Stuttgart striker Mario Gomez, Schweinsteiger gave yet another "wholehearted" performance. This time, however, he overdid it, getting sent off for pushing an opponent in time added on.

That meant he had to sit out Germany's 1-0 win over Austria and perhaps it was no mere coincidence he was missing from easily Germany's worst performance in their five games so far at Euro 2008. The point was not lost on his coach who, for the first time, named him in the starting line-up for that 3-2 quarter-final win over Portugal.

Twenty-two minutes into that game, Loew's refound faith in Schweinsteiger was rewarded when he went on a strong run from deep inside his own half to steal a march on defender Paulo Ferreira and set Germany on their way with a deftly-taken goal, as he touched home Lukas Podolski's inviting cross.

Schweinsteiger rounded off a great evening by knocking in two precise free-kick crosses from which first Miroslav Klose and then Michael Ballack made the most of poor Portuguese defending for goals two and three.

As if that were not enough, the Bayern man then staged a repeat showing of his Portugal goal in the semi-final against Turkey, again making a diagonal run into the box from a deep position to beat the defender to another inviting Podolski cross. This time, the deft, right-footed flick with which he put away the chance was even better than his previous effort. It was a superb finish which, had it been knocked in by Ronaldo, Torres or Ronaldinho, would have generated a tsunami of glowing praise.

In coming back from a poor season, in forcing his way into the team notwithstanding a sending-off, Schweinsteiger sums up a quintessential German characteristic and one that will worry Spain in tomorrow's final - namely his physical strength is matched by his mental strength. He, like his side, is no pushover.

The Germans are not the best team to have played at Euro 2008 yet here they are in the final, thanks in no small part to Schweinsteiger. Statistics show the midfielder does more than score or set up vital goals.

The statistics indicate he clocks up an average nine kilometres per game, more than anyone else. He puts himself about a great deal, covering a lot of ground. Take, for example, one moment in the semi-final against Turkey. It came in the first half at a time when Germany were struggling.

Germany lost possession in the final third, leading to a Turkish counter-attack down the left wing through goalscorer Ugur Boral. Midfielder Simon Rolfes backed off the Turk, allowing him to make ground. From nowhere in bombed Schweinsteiger to win back the ball from Boral and square it to his midfield. As the ball worked its way forward via the German midfield, there he was moving down the right wing ready to round off a counter-attacking German move.

Looking forward to tomorrow's final, Schweinsteiger is the first to concede Germany will have to play much better than against Turkey: "We didn't play as well as we did against Portugal but we showed our German qualities . . . We're very lucky we managed to turn the game around. Maybe we were not impressive but we were up against a massive opponent in Turkey. The point is we got through and that's decisive, but we know we can do better."

Given the heart and real strength of the Spanish game is the absurd talent of their brilliant midfield, Schweinsteiger can be expected to have a key role in tomorrow night's drama. He could well be the player who makes it difficult, if not impossible, for the Spanish to play to their best. Could it be, yet again, he will prove to be the German match-winner?