Euro 2012: Germany's Bastian Schweinsteiger is a midfield colossus in the mould of Roy Keane Deschamps was a fantastic player and a crucial part of the France team which won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000, but while his style was emulated by others, there have been few midfielders in recent years who have played like Keane or myself by getting forward and playing from box-to-box. Many teams now play without this kind of player, but I love to see midfielders who can defend, get forward and score goals. Steven Gerrard has done this for many years for Liverpool and England, but at this moment, I look at Schweinsteiger and Yaya Toure as the two who really stand out as the best around in terms of the role they play. Germany have an excellent and powerful midfield, with Sami Khedira and Mesut Ozil adding to Schweinsteiger's qualities. Ozil is a really special player, but in my opinion, Schweinsteiger is the one who makes the difference for Germany. You can see that he is the guy who gives the team-talks on the pitch and he is the one who gives them balance and brings everything together. Germany have a history of building their team around powerful, dominant midfielders such as Lothar Matthaus, Matthias Sammer and Michael Ballack and Schweinsteiger is the latest in that line. To have won 93 caps for Germany at the age of 27 is a real achievement and sums up his experience and value to the team. But while Schweinsteiger has stood out for Germany, the other midfielder who has really impressed me has been Andres Iniesta. He is a totally different player to Schweinsteiger, but he is so important to Spain and somebody who often does not get the praise or credit that he deserves. If you speak to Xavi or Lionel Messi at Barcelona, they will tell you how big a player Iniesta is. For me, he has been one of the men of the tournament. He can score and dribble, is excellent at winning the ball and passing it, and has an unbelievable work-rate. He is fitter than many people would imagine. His football brain is fantastic, but I love how humble he is and the fact that he is not flash. He just plays a great game all the time. I played against him for France and myself and Claude Makélelé had to work out a way to stop Iniesta and Xavi. At one stage, we looked at each other to say "what is the solution?," but the tactic we came up with was to deny them space and put them under pressure because, with Xavi and Iniesta, it is too late once they get the ball. The first tackle has to be an early one so that they know they are facing a long day, but they are both tough and have proven that they can cope with that side of the game. If France are to beat them in the quarter-final on Saturday, then they have to stop Iniesta and Xavi from running the game. Had England been up against Spain, I think that Gerrard and Scott Parker would have had the ability to make it difficult for Xavi and Iniesta, particularly if they played with a 4-5-1 system. But Iniesta stood out against Italy and the Republic of Ireland, even though they both played very defensively, so he is capable of overcoming even the most difficult of challenges.