Euro 2012 Team of the Tournament

To finish off the 2012 European Championships I'm going to throw out a team of the tournament.  Most of these are pretty obvious if you've been paying attention, but some of my choices may surprise you.

Goalkeeper:
Gianluigi Buffon - I imagine Iker Casillas will take this in most opinions but to me Buffon played a masterclass throughout the tournament.  The one blight on his game, the final versus Spain, wasn't his fault.  All four goals came from through passes where his defenders weren't covering the runners, he is not to blame.  But besides that game he was stellar in every sense of the word and he had a lot more pressure to deal with than Casillas.

Defense:
Giorgio Chiellini - Strangely the heart of the Italian defense was forced to play on the left side when they had a flat four at the back.  There was never any turning back when he walked off injured during the final.
Sergio Ramos - Simply amazing wherever you put him.  He completely shut down Mario Balotelli which is not easy from a physical standpoint.  He even took some of their free kicks which you don't see a center back do too often.
Jordi Alba - He has now assured his new club (Barcelona) that they have made a good choice.
Fábio Coentrão - One of the highlights of the semi-final for Portugal, his attacking ability was the start of a lot of their attacks.

Midfield:
Andrea Pirlo - AC Milan must be kicking themselves for letting him go.  He's been an underrated player for years and showed what a play maker he is by taking a reformed Italy to the final.  If Vincent Del Bosque has Xavi Hernandez man marking you, you're doing something right.
Sami Khedira - It was sort of between him and Daniele De Rossi for this spot but Khedira edges it because of all the offensive opportunities he created as well as owning the middle of the park.
David Silva - Overall I think Silva was Spain's most potent attacking weapon.  They of course attack as a team but Silva always seemed to be in the mix.
Andrés Iniesta - Iniesta seemed to move a lot more off the ball than he has in previous tournaments (which is a lot).  He constantly looks dangerous, it's a shock that he didn't score more often.
Mesut Özil - When Germany were having trouble and even when they lost to Italy he was the one player that always looked like he could score or create something.  Khedira and him were the two players form Germany that looked like they were really up for this tournament.

Forward:
Christiano Ronaldo - Love him or hate him this man is dangerous.  He struggled because he didn't receive a lot of the linking play that he gets at Real Madrid and was too often waiting for the ball.  But when he got it he was effective at either moving the ball quickly or drawing two and sometimes three defenders to himself.

Manager:
Cesare Prandelli - Between injuries and the small matter of a match fixing scandal it's a surprise they were in the Championships at all.  He took them to the final which I don't think many people predicted, certainly not me.

Player of the Tournament:
Either Silva or Buffon, probably Silva as he, like all Spanish players, had a good final game.  But I'm always a stickler for giving keepers their due respect and Buffon carried Italy when the offense wasn't doing it.

I'll be signing off for a while but we're not too far away from the Olympics and I hear the British team has an old Welsh winger in their ranks this time...sounds interesting.