[Mayonnaise]

The last three tournaments, i.e. the Championship in it's present 16 team format, have each had strikers as winners of the Golden Boot, though the winners and placed (top three) scorers have not necessarily played for teams that have reached the final.

2004 Portugal
Milan Baros - 5 goals with the Czechs reaching the semi-finals
Ruud Van Nistlerooy - 4 goals with Holland reaching the quarter-finals
Wayne Rooney - 4 goals with England reaching the quarter-finals

2000 Belgium/Holland
Patrick Kluivert - 5 goals with Holland reaching the semi-finals
Savo Milosevic - 5 goals with Yugoslavia reaching the quarter-finals
Nuno Gomes - 4 goals with Portugal reaching the semi-finals

1996 England
Alan Shearer - 5 goals with England reaching the semi-finals
Brian Laudrup - 3 goals / group
Davor Suker - 3 goals / quarters
Hristo Stoichkov - 3 goals / group
Jurgen Klinsmann - 3 goals / winners

I'd be looking for a player who tends to be a focal point of his teams attacking play.

I'd also tend to disregard the apparent weakness of the teams in a group as some players tend to thrive while playing against the stronger nations. For example, in 2004 Milan Baros only scored one of his five goals against minnows Latvia, his others coming against Holland (1), Germany (1) and Denmark (2). Likewise, Alan Shearer only scored one each against the "weaker" teams in the group at Euro '96, Switzerland and Scotland, while bagging a brace against Holland and one against the Germans in the semi-finals.

Regarding Cristiano Ronaldo ( :swoon: ) I feel he plays to a lot more rigid system when playing for Portugal than when playing for Manchester United. Big Phil tends to stick Ronaldo onto one of the wings and expects him to play as an out-and-out winger, while at United he has the freedom to roam which Fergie afford possibly the best player in the world. I'm afraid 8/1 is far too short for me, unless Phil has a sudden change of heart with regards to his positioning!