Our Starting XI: Round 1

Each round of the group stage and knockouts of Euro 2008, we will be choosing a starting eleven based on who we think put in the best individual efforts. We fully expect that your ideal eleven would be different, and we’d love to hear yours in the comments. Short descriptions of each performance after the bump.

Keeper: Edwin van der Sar (Netherlands)
The Dutch offense was, as always, the main attraction, but the Manchester United keeper kept tight at the back and made a great save on an Andrea Pirlo free kick that could have changed the momentum of the game.

Left Back: Giovanni van Bronckhorst (Netherlands)
The fact that a Dutch defender is on this list shows how very special that game really was. Van Bronckhorst not only made a vital goal-line clearance, but also played defense the way Holland prefers to, by scoring a goal.

Central Defender: Pepe (Portugal)
The player of the opening day was not world star Cristiano Ronaldo, but relatively new Portugal defender Pepe. His defending was solid, and he scored a fine goal on top of it. He would have had another, if not for that pesky offside rule.

Central Defender: Dorin Goian (Romania)
Romania’s strong defensive effort against France can be credited to every one of the defenders on the pitch, but Goian is the name that most popped out. He wasn’t completely clean, and made at least one foul that was completely intentional, but it probably saved a goal, so I can’t deduct points for that. I expect this to be a controversial choice, and it also reflects the fact that very few central defenders had great performances this week.

Right back: José Bosingwa (Portugal)
Along with fellow Best XI winner Pepe, Boswinga controlled every Turkish attack, and managed to help out well outside of his area. There wasn’t a single successful attacking play on the Turkish left wing, and Boswinga can claim a lot of that credit.

Left midfielder: Lukas Podolski (Germany)
Podolski has made a habit of braces in big summer tournaments, putting in two against Sweden in the Round of 16 at World Cup 2006, and now scoring a double here against Poland. Extra points for class, as he refused to celebrate scoring against his country of birth.

Central midfielder: Orlando Engelaar (Netherlands)
Seeing a pattern here? The Twente captain is a new addition to the Oranje side, but showed Europe what Dutch fans already knew - he is one of the finest defensive midfielders around. He wasn’t showy, but defensive midfielders rarely are, and he was most noticeable by the fact that he did very little, if anything wrong. A solid performance that set up some more obviously glorious ones.

Central midfielder: Torsten Frings (Germany)
Frings was all over the place, feeding balls in and shutting down every attempt the Poles made to have any control of midfield. Michael Ballack is the star, and he might well step up in the next few matches, but Frings really outshined him in this one.

Right midfielder: Kazim Kazim (Turkey)
In a team that struggled to put much pressure on the fantastic Portugal defense, Kazim provided the only real threat for Turkey. His play down the right wing often drew the attention of two or even three defenders, and if someone was a bit more available as an outlet, he could have been the spark for the Turks. Unfortunately for them, he had very little help.

Forward: Ruud van Nistelrooy (Netherlands)
While everyone complains about whether it was or wasn’t offside, or whether it should or shouldn’t have been, Ruud is sitting back and smiling, enjoying his goal. If that was his only contribution, then he wouldn’t have made the list, but he was a constant danger man, and looked at times like his old incredible self. He’s not done for this tournament, mark that.

Forward: David Villa (Spain)
Amazing. With all eyes focused on Fernando Torres, probably due to a bit of English press bias but also because he’s a fantastic striker, recently injured David Villa was a bit forgotten. The Russians won’t soon forget him, though, as they try to scrub off the bootmark he left on the back of their pearly white kit. With the first Euro hat trick since 2000 (when there were two), Villa is sizing up for a Golden Boot.