Many of us Fantasy managers will be turning to the next two quarter-finals to reassess our captaincy options in light of Joachim Low’s lineup for Germany’s game with Greece this evening. Mario Gomez was the runaway leader of the Captain Poll prior to kick-off with 68% of the votes cast; the top scoring player in the group stages, he’d accrued 21 points in his first three games but Low’s decision to drop him to the bench in favour of Miroslav Klose scuppered plenty best-laid plans:
The team announcement saw many stick with Cristiano Ronaldo’s 12 point haul against Czech Republic, while others gambled on various German assets – Klose vindicated his manager’s decision with a goal and assist for a nine point return, equalled by Greece’s Dimitrios Salpingidis. Mesut Ozil was the highest scorer in terms of Germany’s more popular assets in the McDonald’s game – a pair of assists helped him to an armband haul of 16 points and, while those who handed him the captaincy will likely be content to stick, others will be more than willing to take a punt and twist.
Tomorrow night affords us the chance to turn to Spain and France, then, with Fernando Torres a likely candidate for Vicente Del Bosque’s side. The 8.5 priced forward has started the last two for Spain and hopes are high of another run-out against Les Bleus – with a couple of goals already under his belt, El Nino is sure to pick up a good few votes. Cesc Fabregas has also found the net twice and may well oust Torres from the first XI if his manager decides to go down the “false nine” route once again, though David Silva may well be the safest option. Having had a hand in four of his nation’s six goals thus far, the Man City player is the top scoring Spaniard with 20 points over his trio of starts – Andres Iniesta is the most popular player in the Spain squad with over 31% ownership and will be keen to add to his assist in the previous game against Croatia.
France arrive as underdogs after their 23 match unbeaten run was ended by Sweden in their final Group D match. Karim Benzema looks the man most likely for Laurent Blanc’s side, despite a disappointing campaign so far. The Real Madrid man has failed to find the net and has produced just a pair of assists for his Fantasy owners. Samir Nasri and Franck Ribery have also struggled to impress – between them, they have registered a goal and assist but have yet to pick up any attacking points since a move from 4-3-3 to 4-2-3-1. Yohan Cabaye is the most popular midfielder in the France squad in the McDonald’s game with over 12% ownership, while Jeremy Menez and Hatem Ben Arfa have been handed a start apiece on the right flank in the last two matches and are real differential candidates.
