Players To Watch At Euro 2008

AC Milan's classy deep lying playmaker has stamped his quality and authority on both Milan and the Italian national team's midfield since his emergence as a top star around 2002. No stranger to winning football's biggest prizes as one of the stars of Italy's World Cup win in 2006, Pirlo will be fighting hard to add the European Championships trophy to his already glittering trophy collection.

At 29, Pirlo is at the peak of his formidable powers and, with his liking for dead ball situations, could turn out to be a potential match winner as a goalscorer as well as a creator.

Fernando Torres couldn't have dreamt for a better first season in English football on a personal level, if not quite as successful as a squad member at trophy-less Liverpool. The young Spaniard was a massive gamble for coach Rafa Benitez when he shelled out a reputed £20m for his services last summer but goals by the bucketload and proof that he could hack the physical side of the English game made Torres the signing of the season.

Finally regarded as Spain's number one striker after Raul's demise, Torres can now look forward to leading the line for Spain at Euro 2008 and trying to bring at least one major trophy home to Casa Del Torres this season.

Not even a missed penalty in the UEFA Champion's League final penalty shootout could put a dampener on Cristiano Ronaldo's season as the Portuguese wonderkid came of age in style for Portugal and Manchester United. Gone are the no end product stepovers and showboating and in their place are the 42 goals and countless assists that helped drive United to a Premier League title and the Champion's League crown.

Now regarded as the world's best footballer, Ronaldo has to show that he can do it on the international stage and truly inherit the mantle of former Portuguese world player of the year Luis Figo by bringing European Championship glory to Portugal.

Luca Toni was a late developer as far as playing at the very top level goes but at 31 years of age he looks to be in the form of his life with a title winning season at Bayern Munich and plenty of Bundesliga goals behind him. Leaving Italy usually signals the death knell of any Italian international's career with the national team but Toni's goals and all round physical forward play have meant that coach Roberto Donadoni has had no choice but to build his attack around the big front man.

Like Pirlo, Toni already has the World Cup winner's medal from 2006 but would dearly love to add a European Championship medal to his collection and complete the World Cup/European Championship double for Italy.

Widely regarded as the most complete goalkeeper in world football at the present time, even the unbeatable Petr Cech has experienced some troubles over the past two seasons. Chelsea's capitulation in the English Premier League, Carling Cup final and UEFA Champion's League final can't be laid at the goalkeeper's door although the disappointment of being so close but yet so far from adding to his trophy collection may take some getting over.

Cech however is no stranger to overcoming insurmountable odds as his recovery from a couple of serious head injuries in the past two seasons have shown. More than competent in every area of goalkeeping, Cech will make sure that the Czech defence has the best cover in the business all through Euro 2008.

Fresh from signing for English Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur in a £16.5m deal, Modric can now concentrate his efforts on bringing Croatia closer to European Championship glory and leave behind the rumours and gossip of his long running transfer saga that had him linked with virtually every big club in Europe.

Creative, inventive and strong on the ball, Modric will be the midfield hub of Croatia's effort and come the end of the tournament there may be a few of Europe's top tier of clubs who will wish they had moved a little quicker to tie up the services of the little playmaker before Spurs had made their very wise move.

The drugs scandal that sensationally put an end to Adrian Mutu's time at Chelsea finally seems to be fading into a distant memory for a player who, at that time, looked to be throwing away one of Eastern Europe's finest footballing talents.

A move back to Italy with Juventus rejuvenated his career and after joining Fiorentina and forming a lethal partnership with Luca Toni (before his move to Bayern Munich), Mutu has went from strength to strength. Averaging almost a goal every two games in his 60+ caps for Romania, the man Fiorentina fans call "The Phenomenon" is right back on top of things with his unfashionable Romanian side ready to claim some big scalps in the so-called Group of Death at Euro 2008.

Becoming Real Madrid's fifth highest transfer fee signing in history last summer could have been a burden to the young Dutchman especially as his time at Chelsea was so blighted by injuries but after an early setback, again with injury, Arjen Robben hasn't stopped to look back. A Spanish La Liga title in his first season with Real Madrid saw Robben add to his burgeoning trophy cabinet which already boasted title medals from his spells at PSV Eindhoven and Chelsea.

Following Ryan Babel's injury there will be even more pressure on Robben to provide a cutting edge as a supply line down the flanks for the Dutch attacking force of Ruud Van Nistlerooy but experience shows he is more than up to the task.

There were a few raised eyebrows when Ribery joined Bayern Munich last summer to complete their new attacking triumvirate of Luca Toni, Miroslav Klose and Ribery but with a Bundesliga title in the bag and a new found position as France's main creative force since Zidane's retirement, things couldn't have turned out better for him.

While Ribery's 2006 World Cup campaign ultimately ended in the disappointment of final defeat he will be hoping to bring Les Bleus back to the glory they enjoyed in Holland and Belgium in 2000 and provide a springboard for a new generation of successful French sides.

Controversy has followed the big striker wherever he has played and despite taking time to fall out with practically every player and coach he has came into contact with at one time or another, Zlatan has still found some time to display some of the most sublime skill seen in European football in the past few decades.

Delicate of touch, skilful on the ball, powerful in the air and with a hungry eye for goal, he should be recognised as one of world soccer's top forward players but the attitude always manages to get in the way. With Henrik Larsson recalled from international retirement to partner him at Euro 2008 we can only hope that it's the interested Zlatan that shows up. If it is we're in for some show.