Euro 2012 Top 10 Part 4: Forwards

Before we commence the fourth and final chapter in this countdown of the best Euro 2012 players, let's first look back at what we’ve covered so far.

We began at Numero Uno, considering who the premier goalkeepers were heading to Euro 2012, making the decision that Iker Casillas would be the main man in front of his own goal this year.

It was then Philipp Lahm that got the nod as best defender in chapter two right before Spain’s Xavi was nominated as the best midfielder making his way to the tournament.

With those positions all accounted for, we’re now left with just the forward roles to consider.

In this sense of the term, “forward" encompasses all the foremost attacking talent, whether it comes from the higher wings, a centre forward or just an out-and-out goal poacher.

As it has been and so it shall remain, each country is permitted just one participant in this top 10, resulting in the most balanced and fair countdown possible.

In the words of the late, great Frank Sinatra: “And now, the end is here. And so I face the final curtain.”

Not to worry, however, as the end of this Euro 2012 ranking merely signals the beginning of the tournament itself.

With that all understood, let us finish our Euro 2012 Top 10 countdown.

1. Cristiano Ronaldo

Could top spot really belong to anyone else?

Cristiano Ronaldo is coming off the back of a tournament in which he brought the La Liga title back to the Santiago Bernabeu, leading his Real Madrid side in the scoring charts by some margin.

In 55 starts for Los Blancos last season, the Portuguese captain scored an absolutely salivating tally of 60 goals, easily breaking the goal-per-game ratio that every striker dreams of.

Ronaldo also managed to dish out some of the scoring duties to his teammates, making a very respectable 17 assists in the process.

Were it not for a certain pint-sized Argentine chap, the former Manchester United hero may well have found himself at the top of Europe’s scoring ranks. Alas, it was not meant to be.

The 27-year-old can still be impressed with his work and while things may seem dim, internationally speaking, you can guarantee that Ronaldo will be at the front line of anything positive that Portugal get going for themselves.

Paulo Bento’s men have been drawn in the dreaded “Group of Death” and will be pitted against the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark before they can even reach the quarterfinals.

However bleak things may appear, it doesn’t change the fact that the Portuguese national side have quite possibly the best player in the tournament leading them into it.

Just too bad they can’t challenge their foes to a game of one-on-one, right?

2. Wayne Rooney

It’s funny to think that Wayne Rooney has been nominated as number two on this list and yet he can’t actually feature in Euro 2012 until what could potentially be England’s final game in it.

The fiery-tempered Red Devil is, of course, serving out a suspension that came as a result of a red card that Rooney picked up against Montenegro.

Should England fail to make anything of their first two matches, it means that Rooney’s involvement in the tournament could ultimately prove to be futile.

However, that doesn’t change the fact that the Liverpudlian is a world-class talent whose aggressive nature actually lends to his prowess on the pitch.

Since emerging as a starlet at Everton, Rooney has grown into one of the most consistent strikers in English football, shown in his 34-goal record of the 2011-12 season.

Probably the best player that England have at their disposal at this moment in time, the 26-year-old’s early absence may actually have a beneficial effect on the Three Lions, galvanizing them as a squad before their talisman’s timely return.

3. Robin van Persie

A striker in the absolute prime of his career, Robin van Persie is one of several mammoth attackers amongst the Dutch squad.

Arjen Robben and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar were particularly close in making the cut for this nomination, but after a 2011-12 season that saw the Gunner score 30 goals in 37 Premier League starts, it had to be Robin van Persie to get the nod.

While not strictly as prolific last season as his Schalke counterpart Huntelaar, Van Persie has performed similar heroics at the Emirates Stadium for a consistent amount of time when he seems to be all on his own at times.

The 28-year-old also managed to pitch in with 14 assists for the North London outfit, showing the unselfish aspect of his game that will be vital to the Netherlands’ success this summer.

Van Persie is likely to start as the sole striker in Bert van Marwijk’s first game against Denmark, where fans will see if the forward can manage to transfer his prolific league form to the European Championships.

The Feyenoord youth product is currently embroiled in a heap of transfer speculation linking him with a move to Manchester City (as reported by the Daily Mail), but Van Persie will need to ignore any club matters in Poland and Ukraine if he is to continue the same superb standard of performance that he maintained last campaign.

4. Mario Gómez

Mario Gomez was a fundamental part of Bayern Munich’s attack this season and, as is the case with just about every forward on this list, the player’s club just wouldn’t have performed as well as they did without him.

For years, Miroslav Klose has been the main target man for Germany in international competition, but Gomez has really evolved on a club level and is likely to play his most prominent role for the nation yet.

The 26-year-old was limited to just substitute appearances at the 2010 World Cup, but after netting 80 goals for Bayern Munich over the past two seasons, he will surely be Germany’s main striker this time around.

Gomez works mostly as a lone striker for Die Bayern, a tactic that is likely to be employed by Joachim Löw in Poland and Ukraine.

Germany have the youngest squad heading to this summer’s event with an average age of around 24.5 years.

With this in mind, it’s important to note that Gomez will actually be one of the senior members amongst the team and a huge amount of leadership as well as striking responsibilities lies with him.

After coming runner-up in this season’s Champions League, Gomez is one of many Bayern Munich players on the German squad who’ll have redemption on their mind when they head out this summer, a powerful tool when used in the right hands.

5. Karim Benzema

Having picked up a back injury from sleeping awkwardly on the flight to France’s Ukrainian base, Karim Benzema is actually a doubt to even start for Les Bleus in their opening match against England.

However, this doesn’t detract from the fact that the striker has had a superb season along with Real Madrid teammate, Cristiano Ronaldo.

The 2011-12 campaign saw Benzema net a very decent return of 34 goals in just 40 starts for Los Merengues, contributing 19 assists along the way.

Having so far failed to live up to the massive expectations that arose upon completing his transfer from Lyon in 2009, the 24-year-old now appears to have really settled in La Liga. When fit, he will be France’s main attacking outlet at Euro 2012.

Laurent Blanc has relied heavily upon the utilization of just one striker throughout France’s buildup to the summer tournament, and while Olivier Giroud had a magnificent season in Ligue 1, it appears that Benzema has indeed done enough to earn a starting berth.

Benzema has looked impressive playing in national team colours so far this year and has netted two goals in his last six appearances, along with three assists.

The French are a subtle choice for dark-horse victors for many this year, but that could all rely upon Benzema continuing his run of good form.

6. Zlatan Ibrahimović

A player who La Gazzetta dello Sport have quoted as dubbing himself “the best player in the world” on more than one occasion, Zlatan Ibrahimovic will have the perfect opportunity to prove his claims right this summer.

The Swedish national team isn’t exactly as star-studded as fellow Group D opponents, France and England, and if the Scandinavians are to even have a chance of making it past the first phase, then Ibrahimovic will have to be on the very peak of his ability.

The 30-year-old was Serie A’s top goal scorer this season, pitching in with 28 goals for AC Milan, as well a 10 assists.

Ibrahimovic was also prominent in the Rosoneri’s Champions League run and netted five goals with another five assists in eight European starts.

Although Ola Toivenen, Johan Elmander and Tobias Hysén will also be candidates to score for the Swedes, Ibrahimovic is likely to start in every game under Erik Hamrén and will be the man upon whom their tournament hopes rest. 

7. Robert Lewandowski

Robert Lewandowski chose just about the best time to have a breakthrough season this year and played a vital role in Borussia Dortmund’s retaining of the Bundesliga title.

Łukasz Piszczek and Jakub Błaszczykowski have both featured in parts two and three of this countdown, respectively, and it simply wouldn’t be right to leave out the third musketeer of Poland’s Borussia Dortmund trio.

In 34 league appearances for the Yellow and Blacks last season, Lewandowski netted 22 goals, managing to keep Lucas Barrios limited to just bench appearances.

Not to mention that the Polish international scored another eight goals under Jürgen Klopp in European competition and the DFB Pokal.

Lewandowski has scored three goals in his last six starts for the national side, and while the three players from Borussia Dortmund will have a huge amount of responsibility this summer, it is perhaps the striker with whom the most power lies as the 23-year-old is, without a doubt, Poland’s best chance of scoring goals.

8. Fernando Torres

Despite a miserable first 15 months or so at Stamford Bridge, Fernando Torres actually started to show some of the form that may have warranted Chelsea’s £50 million purchase of his signature towards the end of the 2011-12 campaign.

A particular highlight of the Spaniard’s talent was the goal scored in the dying minutes of the Champions League semifinal fixture against Barcelona, in which he revived the cool composure of yesteryear to round Victor Valdes before slotting home to ensure the Blues’ place in the competition’s finale.

After several months of “flopping” at his new club, one would have been mad to think that, just under a year later, it would be Torres that would be lifting the most prestigious of European club trophies.

However, the 28-year-old now has the opportunity to shrug off any demons that might exist in West London and go on to feature in a Spanish side that can become the first national team in history to win three major tournaments in a row.

Torres has featured mainly from the bench in Spain’s lead-up to Euro 2012, but Vicente del Bosque could spring a surprise on everyone by handing the Chelsea forward a starting berth in Poland and Ukraine.

Talent isn’t something that can be easily lost, and while the last 18 months haven’t been kind to Torres, the former Atletico Madrid superstar undoubtedly still has it within him to feature for a competition winning Spain, especially with the supply chain of Xavi, Iniesta, Alonso, Fabregas etc. behind him.

9. Mario Balotelli

“Controversial” is simply the easiest word in which to sum up Mario Balotelli, whether it be in terms of play on the pitch or happenings off of it.

Cesare Prandelli will have undoubtedly urged his striker to behave when in Poland and Ukraine this summer, but even if begged by your national team coach, it’s difficult, at best, to anticipate what the former Internazionale starlet will do.

The Italian side have developed a notoriety for using defensive approaches in their tactics and while that may be true, in Balotelli the side have a truly explosive (meant in every sense) talent capable of producing wonderment from even the dullest of circumstances.

At Manchester City, the 21-year-old finds himself slightly blocked out of the picture by the likes of Sergio Aguero, Edin Dzeko and Carlos Tevez.

That being said, the Italian youngster has shone just about as often as he has been permitted to, and the 2011-12 season saw Balotelli return 13 Premier League goals in just 14 starts for the club.

While Balotelli hasn’t been quite as prolific for the Azzurri as of yet, the starlet might prove his critics wrong in his very first step into a major international tournament.

Onlookers obviously need to keep an eye out for Balotelli’s mean streak that has seen him in the headlines for all the wrong reasons in recent years, but the player certainly has the potential to become something great.

10. Nikica Jelavić

After a successful start to his Everton career, Nikica Jelavic heads into the Euro 2012 competition in truly prolific form.

The 26-year-old only arrived at Goodison Park in January but managed to net nine goals in his first 10 starts for the Toffees, becoming an instant hit amongst their fans.

Jelavic also scored 14 goals in just 21 starts during his final five months at Rangers, where he started out the 2011-12 season.

It was recently announced that Ivica Olic had to pull out of the tournament through injury, meaning that it is likely to be Jelavic to lead the attacking line for Croatia.

Slaven Bilic’s side face a tough group against Italy, the Republic of Ireland and reigning tournament champions Spain.

That being said, the Croatians head into Poland and Ukraine in decent enough form having lost just two of their last 11 games, and they could look a good bet as underdogs.

So, there you have it. This concludes Part 4 of our Euro 2012 Top 10 countdown from goalkeepers all the way up to the frontline.

In case you missed them, Parts One, Two and Three can be found here, here and here, respectively.

Statistics were provided courtesy of Transfermarkt.com, Statto.com and WhoScored.com.