With a memorable Euro 2008 done and dusted, we inspect your final Hot or Not ratings.
James Dall casts his eye over your Euro 2008 Hot or Not ratings to determine who set this summer's tournament alight
With Euro 2008 done and dusted, we have inspected your Player Ratings to hail who's hot and shame who's not in Austria and Switzerland.
And so the velvet curtain drapes over what has been a marvellous tournament, meaning now is the time to wrap-up our 'Hot or Not' feature which has seen the busy bees sift through your ratings in a bid to formulate the star XI of the round that matches our readers' feelings.
This shiny new edition has a twist, though, in that we have averaged all the submitted scores to culminate who were the conclusively, sweltering hot individuals that set Euro 2008 aflame, while ensuring those that had a blinder followed by a stinker miss out.
Top of the tree, king of the castle and general stand-out mean-rating leader is Holland schemer Wesley Sneijder, at a score of 8.7, following his cracking showing at Austria and Switzerland, where the midfielder tallied two goals and as many assists to fully justify the multi-million pound fee Real Madrid paid Ajax to guarantee his services last summer.
The prize of the competition's second-best player, according to our users, is shared between Poland shot-stopper Artur Boruc and Dutch winger Arjen Robben, who both landed tallies of 8.3 to fit snugly in our goalkeeper and left-midfield berths respectively.
Boruc, currently contracted to SPL champions Celtic, pips the likes of Iker Casillas and Edwin van der Sar to secure your No.1 jersey after three terrific displays in the group stages that showed off his reflexes but failed to help his side progress.
Meanwhile, Robben - another Real player - caught your eye, despite making just two appearances during Holland's rampage in the 'Group of Death', as he laid on one goal against the miserable French before firing past goalkeeper Gregory Coupet from the tightest of tight angles.
The remaining attacking centre-midfield position is filled by creative spark Cesc Fabregas after he landed a grade of 8.2 to shrug off fierce competition from Euro 2008 final colleague Xavi and surprise package Andrei Arshavin - who paid the price for his anonymity in the semi-final against Spain when he received a score of 4.6 - eek!
Further panache is added via the inclusion of Tottenham Hotspur-bound Luka Modric, who rids any Spurs fans of the furrowed brows that met the £16.6million spent on the Croatian after three spicy performances that demonstrated his pure talent and ability to cut the mustard at the highest level.
Gritty, bullish steel completes the five-man midfield in the form of Spain's enforcer Marcos Senna. The 31-year-old Villarreal player was rewarded with a no-nonsense 7.9 after a number of gutsy performances ensured Luis Aragones' side were allowed to express themselves to the maximum.
In defence, Giovanni van Bronckhorst shone after his innumerable marauding surges forward contributed greatly to Holland's early-tournament gusto, while he is partnered alongside compatriot Khalid Boulahrouz - whose commanding performances did much to overlay memories of the rocky first season he had at Chelsea in 2006/07.
In truth, other glowing ratings of defenders were hard to come by; therefore Spain right-back Sergio Ramos, who was strong and mostly consistent throughout, lands the final defensive slot with a hardly whopping score of seven.
Up front, there will be few surprises that golden boot winner David Villa - whose four strikes have reportedly landed him a whole host of interest from numerous European clubs - was pick of the strikers as he claimed an impressive average of eight out 10.
And it is Ruud van Nistelrooy that completes your hot starting XI of Euro 2008 after the Real striker bagged two goals in three games while showing his quality outside the box with some excellent link-up play.
Lastly, it seems only right to name and shame those that had a shocker of a summer. Bottom of our pile is a French twosome in the form of Nicolas Anelka and Bafetimbi Gomis following Les Bleus' dreadful outing at Austria and Switzerland. Anelka was handed a 3.4, while Gomis a 3.2.
So there we have it. Firstly, a big thank you for all your ratings - be sure to continue your hard work when the new season gets back under way. And finally, we welcome your musings on the above graphic and wordery. Do you agree with how the averages have panned out? Or have you been left fuming at the exclusion of your personal player of the tournament? Let us know via the form below.
