1. Iker Casillas (Spain) – The Spanish captain stepped on and provided clutch goalkeeping in the quarterfinal showdown with Italy. His work in goal during the match as well as in the penalty phase gives him the edge over number two. Only 27-years-old, St. Iker is now entering the prime of his career for club and country.
2. Gianluigi Buffon (Italy) – His work in the Romania match has been well documented, but his performance throughout the entire tournament lands Buffon the number two spot.
3. Edwin van der Sar (Netherlands) – The Dutch keeper only allowed one goal during group play; three times that amount negated the team’s wonderful group run in the quarterfinal match against Russia. That said, van der Sar is still one of the world’s elite.
4. Rüştü Reçber (Turkey) – The 35-year-old who was considered by Pele to be one of the 125 best living footballers saved one last historic moment to cap his stellar international career. He rejoined the starting eleven against Croatia in place of suspended Volkan Demirel and guided the Turks to their first ever Euro semi-final.
5. Jürgen Macho (Austria) – Almost every footie pundit on the globe felt that the Austrians would bleed goals when the team was matched up against superior foes (Germany, Croatia, and Poland). Care to guess how many goals the team allowed? Three. I am surprised as you are. For that simple fact, the 30-year-old AEK Athens goalkeeper deserves his nod on this all-tournement list.
