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KIEV, Ukraine -- Andres Iniesta has been honored as best player of the European Championship after helping Spain become the first nation to successfully defend the continental crown.

The 28-year-old playmaker started all six of Spain's matches, including Sunday's 4-0 final victory over Italy at the Olympic Stadium in which he recorded an assist.

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UEFA technical director Andy Roxbuirgh says: "Iniesta deserved it. He symbolized the tournament -- the creative, incisive runner, with and without the ball. We felt that he epitomized a lot of what we saw."

Roxbuirgh says UEFA's panel also considered Spain midfielders Xavi Hernandez and Xabi Alonso and Italy midfielder Andrea Pirlo for the award.

European Championship All-Tournament Team, as selected by the technical team of the Union of European Football Associations:

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Italy), Iker Casillas (Spain), Manuel Neuer (Germany)

Defenders: Jordi Alba (Spain), Fabio Coentrao (Portugal), Philipp Lahm (Germany), Pepe (Portugal), Gerard Pique (Spain), Sergio Ramos (Spain)

Midfielders: Xabi Alonso (Spain), Sergio Busquets (Spain), Daniele de Rossi (Italy), Steven Gerrard (England), Xavi Hernandez (Spain), Andres Iniesta (Spain), Sami Khedira (Germany), Mesut Oezil (Germany), Andrea Pirlo (Italy)

Forwards: Mario Balotelli (Italy), Cesc Fabregas (Spain), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), David Silva (Spain)