Pirlo 4-5 to be named tournament's best

WITH two of the most technically gifted international sides of the decade squaring off in Sunday's Euro 2012 showpiece in Kiev, it's no surprise that the favourites for player of the tournament are from finalists Spain and Italy.

Andrea Pirlo is the 4-5 favourite to be named the best player in the competition after a stellar tournament driving the Azzurri in a way only he could.

He's followed by the Spanish midfield master Andres Iniesta at 7-2. Despite the Juventus midfielder being seen as the favourite, Italy are 6-4 outsiders for glory going into the game with Spain 4-7 favourites.

However, the last four winners of the award have all been on tournament-winning sides, including the likes of Zinedine Zidane and most recently Spain's Xavi , who hasn't had as much of an impact for the Spanish this time round. That means Pirlo could need Italy to win for him to be given the award.

Next in the betting comes Mario Ballotelli at 18-1. He has been written off for top player partly because of the chances of him being the tournament's top scorer.

The Manchester City striker, who is tied at the top of the scoring charts with three goals, called his side's 2-0 semi-final win over Germany "the best night in my life."