Top Ten High Points Of Euro 2012

We've reached the business end of Euro 2012 with Portugal, Spain, Italy and Germany all vying for a place in Sunday's final.

...Thus far, at least. From beards to goals to a masterful centre-back, the tournament so far has been pretty good. Here are ten of my favourite moments...what are yours?

10 - Hair

For the connoisseur of the beard, this has been a terrific tournament. From old favourites (Olof Mellberg, Xabi Alonso) to new hot young hairy bucks (half the Greek side), it's been a procession of fine facial fuzz. Italy have some fine beards among them, and it was as if Cesare Prandelli was sensitive to our needs during the England game - as Daniele de Rossi was withdrawn, he introduced the similarly hirsute Antonio Nocerino to maintain the beard count. It was glorious. Not just chin hair either - Mario Gomez's quiff is a feat of physics. Take the header he scored against Portugal - TV showed a slow motion replay in which he rose, and the quiff was immaculate. As he thrust his head forward and jerked it back the quiff was in disarray. Then as he landed it returned to its previous immaculate state. It was wonderful.

9 - Mats Hummels

Defenders have only won the Ballon D'Or four times since 1956. Only one has won the Golden Ball at a World Cup (Uruguayan right-back Jose Nasazzi in 1930), and only one the best player of a European Championships (Mathias Sammer in 1996, although that award has only been given four times). Hummels is a realistic candidate for all of these, and what's surprising is that he wasn't even a guaranteed starter for this brilliant Germany side at the start of the tournament.

Indeed, had it not been for Per Mertesacker's injury worries, he may well have started on the bench, but since then he's been superb. He's made 15 tackles, 15 interceptions, hasn't committed a foul yet...hell, even his pass completion rate is 93%. But statistics aren't the reason he's been one of the highlights of the tournament - it's the combination of elegance and strength, muscling out attackers before a quick turn and fleet of foot to take the ball out of defence. In a position where players often do not mature until their late 20s, Hummels's best could be years away, which is a fairly terrifying thought for strikers across the continent.

8 - Zlatan Ibrahimovic's reaction to elimination

Whether you're a Zlatan believer or not, I ask you to sit back and enjoy his answer to the question, posed just after Sweden's elimination was confirmed, of who he thought would win the whole thing: "I don't give a sh*t. I'm going on holiday."

7 - The tactical gambles of Cesare Prandelli and Vicente del Bosque

It takes either a very confident or a very foolish man to change or take a gamble with an unfamiliar system at a major tournament. The Italian and Spanish bosses did just this in their first game, with the former opting for a 3-5-2 formation with midfielder Daniele de Rossi slotting in at the back, while the latter eschewed convention by not choosing a recognised striker, asking Cesc Fabregas and David Silva to nominally fill the 'centre-forward' role. Both were reflections on domestic club sides (several Italian sides played with three at the back last season, while Barcelona were the obvious template for Spain), but both were huge risks. The game itself was a fascinating exercise in feeling each other out, in looking for weaknesses and probing, trying to pick holes in the opposition while at the same time trying to get used to changes in their own sides.

6 - The realistic/pessimistic expectations of the English press

We feared that, after the FA brazenly ignored the wishes of much of our Fourth Estate and appointed Roy Hodgson as England manager, the knives would be out. We feared Hodgson would be pilloried for not being Harry Redknapp. We feared he would not be given a chance. However, it's been comforting that many of them seem to have gained a sense of perspective - this is a reasonably limited England side, and most of the papers reacted to their performances and eventual exit accordingly. There has been criticism, but it's been largely fair. In a nation that is so influenced by the voice of the press, it's been refreshing.

5 - Mesut Ozil's performance against Holland

I could really have put 'Germany' on this list, even though they received some criticism back home for apparently not being utterly orgasmic in the groups (despite being the only team with a 100% record), but I'd prefer to be a little more specific. Ozil laid on an example of how a man in his position (the middle of the three in a 4-2-3-1) should play, popping up on either wing, slipping perfect passes and generally making something of a mockery of the apparently sturdy Dutch. Like Hummels, Ozil could go on to be one of the greats, and it would be fitting if he guides Germany to a tournament victory.

4 - The Pirlo Panenka

Of course, if he'd got it wrong, he would've looked like a right wazzock. But this is Andrea Pirlo, not Yann Kermorgant. The brilliant thing about the penalty was that it was the perfect and possibly only way to cap his performance, which while he was helped out rather by an English midfield keen to give him as much space as he wanted, was masterful. Fuelled by the confidence of such a schooling, he was able to take this risk, safe in the knowledge that the chances of anything going wrong were minimal. It forced Joe Hart, one of the better goalkeepers in the tournament, to spin around on his back like some sort of fat breakdancer. Finally, it was everything England were not - England were cautious, defensive and safe (which, given the circumstances, is fine - not necessarily a criticism), while this was audacious, flamboyant and hugely entertaining. I laughed when he did it, and if I hadn't been in my office at the time, I would've applauded as well.

3 - The atmosphere of the opening game

They used to start World Cups with the holders, and while this did create the odd hugely entertaining shock (Cameroon beating Argentina in 1990, Senegal getting past France in 2002), the European Championships have always gone with the hosts. And it's the perfect way to kick things off - there was something incredibly powerful and intoxicating about Poland's opener against Greece, particularly the first half. The noise, even heard through a television thousands of miles away from Warsaw, was incredible, and for about 20 minutes of the first half, as a Polish side swept along in this fervour attacked and attacked through Robert Lewandowski, Jakub Blaszczykowski and Ludovic Obraniak, you briefly thought that Poland were unstoppable. Of course, when this dissipated you were left with a reasonably limited side, one that shuffled out of the tournament having not won a game, but those 20 minutes...

2 - Goals, goals, goals

Until England and Italy spoiled it on Sunday, there were no goalless draws in the tournament, but it's the quality of some of the goals that has been breath-taking, rather than the quantity. Take your pick really - Ibrahimovic against France, Welbeck against Sweden, Lahm, Kheidera and Reus against Greece, Pirlo against Croatia, Torres's first against Ireland...I could go on. Here's to a few more.

1 - The last of a great format

There are very few that think the expansion to a 24-team tournament for 2016 is a good thing. It will dilute the quality of the finals, make the format unwieldy and needlessly complicated and increase the number of one-sided and uncompetitive shellackings. There will be those that claim such a point of view is elitist, and the 'small' nations should be given a chance, but this is a competition to find the best team on the continent, not a group hug. The 'small' teams do have a chance - that's called qualifying. The current format works - it's not too short, not too long, competitive enough - just right. It's Baby Bear's porridge, and we're Goldilocks.

If this is taken as a given, there might be a sense of sadness that this will be the last time we will see it, with the insatiable desire to wring every last penny out of football spoiling our fun. However, there is an element of us savouring this, of appreciating it while it lasts. This has been a golden age of European Championships, and it's coming to an end. As if you're at the funeral of an avuncular acquaintance, think of this as a celebration of life, not mourning their death.