Euro Cup 2012: Stars Guaranteed to Shine

With Euro 2012 set to kick off in a few short hours, it's time to preview the superstars who will be taking center stage in Poland and Ukraine.

With Europe's greatest talent set to captivate the world of football for the month of June, all eyes will be on international powers like Germany, Spain, England and the Netherlands. Although as we've seen in the past, there are sure to be surprises across the board.

A quick recap of the group pairings: 

Group A: Poland, Greece, Russia, Czech Republic

Group B: Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Portugal

Group C: Spain, Italy, Croatia, Republic of Ireland

Group D: England, France, Sweden, Ukraine

With that said, here are five players guaranteed to shine in Euro 2012.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic

While he may be one of the most controversial figures in football, Swedish forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic has undeniable talent.

One of the world's premier strikers, Ibrahimovic is coming off of season in Serie A in which he netted 28 goals and a year in which he scored 39 in all competitions.

Leading up to the European Championships, Ibrahimovic scored five goals in Euro Cup qualifying, a pace he will need to sustain if Sweden want to have any chance of emerging from a difficult Group D.

Sweden will be matched up against world powers England and France and host country Ukraine in the group stage, a stage that Ibrahimovic will need to dominate if they hope to surprise pundits.

Robin van Persie

After netting two goals and being awarded the Bronze Boot in Euro 2008, Dutch striker Robin van Persie will look to make a more significant impact in this year's European Championships.

Although van Persie found the back of the net only once in the 2010 World Cup, he has undoubtedly improved in the two years since the Netherlands fell to Spain in a thrilling finale in South Africa.

For his performance with Arsenal in 2011-2012, van Persie was named the FWA Footballer of the Year, and he will look to continue his run of success in Poland and Ukraine for a Dutch squad that are considered an elite contender.

Most recently, van Persie was seen leading the way for the Netherlands in a tune-up against Northern Ireland in which he scored two goals en route to a 6-0 drubbing.

Coming off of a season in which he scored 38 goals in all competitions, expect van Persie to provide a plethora of highlights during his time in Eastern Europe.

Petr Cech

Arguably the world's hottest goalkeeper, Czech Republic standout Petr Cech is entering Euro 2012 fresh off of a UEFA Champions League title with Chelsea.

The last time we saw Cech in a meaningful game, he was denying Bayern Munich in penalty kicks, fending off talk that his game was on the decline.

Recently turning 30 years old, Cech will look to take a starring role in hopes of leading the Czech Republic out of Group A—a group in which they are matched up against Greece, Poland and Russia.

While emerging from the group stage doesn't appear out of the realm of possibility, the Czech Republic will need consistency out of their veteran goalkeeper if they want to hold off their worthy adversaries.

Admittedly, Group A is perhaps the most difficult group to gauge given the lack of a clear-cut favorite, but the Czechs would appear to have a good shot as long as Cech maintains his recent level of play.

Bastian Schweinsteiger

Although his German side made it to the finals of Euro 2008, Bastian Schweinsteiger's performance was frustrating, to say the least.

After drawing a straight red card against Croatia in Group B play, Schweinsteiger was suspended one game and subsequently saw himself fade in and out of the lineup throughout the rest of the tournament.

Rated as the third overall team in FIFA's world rankings, Germany enter Euro 2012 as the favorites to return home from Poland and Ukraine with a European Championship.

Playing in one of the world's most talented midfields, Schweinsteiger's play will be supplemented by European Cup newcomers Mario Gotze, Mesut Ozil and Thomas Müller.

Along with Lukas Podolski, Per Mertesacker, Philipp Lahm and Miroslav Klose, Schweinsteiger is one of the few players on this German squad with significant international experience, and he will be key to the Germans' success in the tournament's group of death.

Xavi Hernandez

Winners of Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup, Spain enter Euro 2012 with a wealth of experience and a few key injuries.

Striker David Villa and defensive linchpin Carlos Puyol will both sit out of the European Championships while they rehabilitate from their respective injuries. And while Xavi won't be asked to replace their production directly, he's the man in the midfield who can hold this squad together.

Spain should have no problem emerging from Group C—a group in which they will face Italy, Croatia and the Republic of Ireland.

Although Spain won't necessarily lean on Xavi for goal scoring, he netted two goals in Euro Cup qualifying.

Spain's calling card is their ability to possess the ball at a rate that other teams simply cannot, and it all starts with Xavi and his Barcelona teammate Andrés Iniesta.