Euro 2012 Focus: Final Stats Leaderboards

So Spain are the European Champions, again, deservedly winning over against a much improved Italy side in the final to retain their title and assert their dominance at international level. Del Bosque's side scored the most goals (12), conceded the fewest (1) and averaged the highest possession per game (65.2%), however, in an individual sense, were they as dominant?

Here we will look at the best players for a number of statistics over the tournament, detailing those with the best totals and averages over a range of categories. We start in an attacking sense, where as many as 6 players led the way with 3 goals, with Fernando Torres eventually picking up the Golden Boot via an assist for Chelsea teammate Juan Mata.

When it came to assists, the lead was again tied; this time between three players, with David Silva, Mesut Ozil and Andrey Arshavin picking up 3 assists apiece. Moving onto the slightly more detailed statistics, starting with the most consistent shooters, the leader comes as no shock whatsoever.

Cristiano Ronaldo not only tops the leaderboard for shots per game (7.4) but also total shots, with a giant tally of 37 way ahead of Mario Balotelli, on 25. Andres Iniesta ranks third here despite failing to score from 20 attempts, while Robin van Persie (5) and Karim Benzema (4.8), who were also wasteful in front of goal, rank second and third respectively when it comes to averages.

In the key passes category, Spain's Xavi leads the way with 25 in total, though Wesley Sneijder's superb average of 6.3 per game sees him rank in the top three for overall figures despite going out in the group stages. Another player who never made it to the quarter-finals but fares well here is Andrey Arshavin, with 5 per game, while Poland's Ludovic Obraniak completes an unlucky trio in terms of averages, with 4.7 not enough to see co-hosts Poland progress either.

When it comes to dribbles, as in the shots category, there is one clear leader, with Franck Ribery topping the per game and totals category, with 4 and 16 respectively. In terms of overall tallies, Portugal's Coentrao (13) and UEFA's Player of the Tournament Andres Iniesta (12) rank second and third, while Arshavin crops up again for averages (3.3) ahead of Tottenham's Luka Modric (3).

When looking at the leaderboard for crosses, the two names that led the way for key passes come out on top again, proving that many chances were created from wide areas and set pieces during the tournament. Sneijder averaged 3.3 accurate crosses per game, ahead of Plasil and Duff (both 3), while Xavi's overall tally of 14 bettered the aforementioned Czech midfielder and his competitor in the final, Andrea Pirlo (both 12).

In terms of passes attempted there are few surprises, well just the one actually, which sees Russia's Igor Denisov rank first, ahead of Xavi, in terms of per game stats (101). Unsurprisingly, having reached the final, Barca and Spain's pass master does rank highest for total attempts (595), with teammates Alonso (585) and Busquets (455) joining him in the top 3 and highlighting Spain's dominance through their possession game.

There is perhaps a more unexpected leader when it comes to total aerial duels won, with Xabi Alonso's tally of 16 ahead by some margin. The Spaniard also ranks in the top three for per game figures (2.7), just behind Greece's Samaras (2.8), who in turn ranks behind Alonso in the totals category, tied with Portugal's Bruno Alves on 11.

As we move into the more defensive statistics we can see that Spain's presence in the vast majority of the leaderboards here is maintained, with the much maligned Alvaro Arbeloa (20) just pipping teammate Gerard Pique (19) to the most tackles overall. England captain Steven Gerrard led by example to finish just behind the Spanish pairing, on 18, while Eugen Polanksi led the per game standings, with 5.3 just beating France's Alou Diarra (5) and Poland's co-hosts' captain Tymoshchuk (4.7).

Ending here on interceptions, Liverpool's Daniel Agger is the real standout performer, with an average of 7 per game seeing him rank second only to Daniele De Rossi in the total standings (21 to 22) despite failing to progress past the group stages. Agger's teammate William Kvist ranks second in per game standings, though an average of 4 is way down on the centre-back, while Germany's impressive Mats Hummels ranks third in terms of averages and totals, with 3.8 and 19 respectively.

To sum up, at least one player from the Champions Spain make their way onto the leaderboard for 7 of the 8 analysed categories here (9 of 10 when including goals and assists), so to answer the opening question "in an individual sense, were they (Spain) dominant?” the answer is, quite simply, yes.