Euro 2012: 5 Stars Who Need a Confidence Boost This Summer

Summer competitions can provide the perfect exclamation point for stellar club seasons. One look at the terrific performances of Wesley Sneijder (coming off a treble-winning season with Inter Milan) and Diego Forlan (winner of the Europa League with Atletico Madrid) at the 2010 World Cup is testament enough to that.

They can also provide the platform upon which players with foundering confidence levels—see: Sneijder after a disappointing 2011-12 with Inter—can reignite their careers.

At no time is a player a hotter commodity than after a standout showing at a major international tournament. For example, Andrei Arshavin parlayed his scintillating form at the 2008 Euros to a club-record contract with Arsenal the following January.

These five players are approaching the upcoming European Championships with a decidedly different bent.

They're not at the height of their powers, and are thus looking toward glory in Poland and Ukraine in order to wash away the sour taste that collected in their mouth after disappointing seasons. 

Bastian Schweinsteiger, Germany

He'd been on the pitch for Bayern Munich when they'd lost the 2010 Champions League final in disappointing fashion to a ruthless counterattacking Inter Milan side.

That 2-0 scoreline likely had not been forgotten by Schweinsteiger, who has become one of the premier central midfielders in the world for both club and country.

He would have been hoping to reach glory last weekend when Bayern got a second crack at a Champions League winners medal, this time against Chelsea.

However, once more, the Bavarians came up short. No picture was more indicative of the pain housed in that disappointment than Schweinsteiger pulling his shirt over his head after missing Bayern's fifth penalty in the shootout. This miss allowed Didier Drogba to etch his name into Chelsea history with his subsequent conversion to clinch victory.

Schweinsteiger's no stranger to near misses in major competitions. He was with the German team that lost to Spain in the Euro 2008 final as well. 

All signs point to him bouncing back from the heartbreak at the Allianz last Saturday. He'll need to be at his best; Germany, as always, are counting upon him to man the middle of the park.

Arjen Robben, Netherlands

Reportedly "distraught" after missing a penalty for Bayern in the opening minutes of stoppage time against Chelsea, words of comfort from Didier Drogba and Michel Platini weren't enough to console the mazy Dutch winger.

"I can't describe how I feel with words, but it's been a terrible night," Robben said, following the match. "Two or three times you feel you have the cup in your hands [during the match] but at the end you stand with nothing.

"It wasn't a good penalty. I wanted to shoot the ball hard and high in the goal, but the ball didn't go high enough. It was a terrible penalty kick. After that, I still played well but you have to change your mindset at that point [of the penalty miss]."

Robben endured a stream of heavy-handed criticism from the Bayern supporters after the match, which fellow Dutch national team member and former Bayern teammate Mark van Bommel deemed hateful enough to make a transfer away from Munich a plausibility.

The Dutch No. 11 will be fit for this summer's championships—something that was not the case ahead of the 2010 World Cup—and will need to be at his best if the Dutch are to make good on their title of "contenders." 

Dirk Kuyt, Netherlands

He has made the right wing his own for the Netherlands in recent years, and despite his infrequent playing time for Liverpool in 2011-12, there's no reason to think Dirk Kuyt will see a dip in playing time for Bert van Marwijk this summer.

The Holland manager is well aware of the impact Kuyt can have on a game. The winger's tireless work rate and nose for goal both translate well from club to international competition and make him an important cog in the Oranje machine.

His club future is up in the air, but his impressive body of work with the national team should at least guarantee him a fun three weeks or so in Poland and Ukraine.

Fernando Torres, Spain

After enduring such a torrid start to his Chelsea career, Torres enjoyed a rebirth of sorts under interim Blues manager Roberto di Matteo, who took over from Andre Villas-Boas in March.

Once one of the most feared strikers in world football—he scored the winner for Spain against Germany in the Euro 2008 final—Torres slowly but surely began to look like that fearsome goal scorer in the final weeks of the season.

He grabbed a hat-trick against Queens Park Rangers in late April, and despite starting the Champions League final on the bench, came on late in the second half and immediately turned back the years.

The Torres we saw on the pitch in Munich was purposeful in his movement and fearless in his approach. He earned Chelsea's first and only corner on the night with a good run down the right flank, which resulted in Juan Mata's delivery/assist for Didier Drogba's superb equalizing header.

Torres will be hoping to do more of the same this summer. With David Villa ruled out due to injury, it would appear his most direct rival for a starting spot with Spain would be Athletic Bilbao forward Fernando Llorente, no slouch himself.

Torres provides a bit more mobility than the tall Basque, but Llorente's fantastic league campaign in 2011-12—he netted 17 goals—will make him difficult to unseat in Vincent del Bosque's starting XI.

Andrei Arshavin, Russia

The wily Russian has not been himself for years now, which was one reason Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger decided to send him out on loan to former club Zenit St. Petersburg.

"I just felt he needed to play," Wenger told Arsenal.com. "When you are 30 and you do not play regularly, you drop your form and when you come on every time you have to produce something special.

"At that age it is very difficult. I felt he just needed a bit of confidence to play again."

Wenger is well aware of how crucial being comfortable is for Arshavin. The forward was noticeably distraught after failing to qualify for the 2010 World Cup, a moment that coincided with his precipitous dip in form for the Gunners.

However, back at Zenit, the club of his youth, Arshavin showed a bit of that technical wizardry we grew so used to seeing in his first season and a half at the Emirates. He scored three goals after joining in late February, a tally which will have done him some good ahead of the Euros, where he will be counted upon to be at his best as Russia's captain.