10 Most Disappointing Players at Euro 2012

With UEFA Euro 2012 whittled down to the best sides in the tournament, let's reflect on those who were a little less fortunate.

Every team that has been eliminated thus far has had their share of letdowns, whether from their team's result or one of their player's performances.

In this article, we will discuss the players who fell flattest in Poland and Ukraine, as they performed below their fans' high expectations for the tournament.

It will be hard not to have every spot taken by a player on the Netherlands, but we will squeeze in a few more to keep it interesting.

Without further ado, here are the 10 most disappointing players in Euro 2012.

Wojciech Szczęsny

Szczęsny is, without a doubt, the person on this list who played the least amount football in the tournament.

Before the tournament, the prospects seemed so bright for the keeper, as he was coming off a strong season with Arsenal, in which he constantly improved to play for his home nation.

In the second half of his Polish side's first match with Greece, though, it all fell apart.

First, he and his defender had a horrendous miscommunication that led to a goal that changed the match.

Then, just 68 minutes into his tournament, he took down a Greek attacker and was sent off.

To make matters worse, Szczęsny's backup, Tyton, came in and actually played well, leading to Tyton being picked for the rest of the tournament.

Unfortunate tournament for Szczęsny.

Gregory Van Der Wiel

What is there to say about van der Wiel's tournament?

Apparently a great right full-back and a target of Chelsea this summer, the Ajax man just didn't offer anything at either end of the pitch to a Dutch side that could have used, well, anything.

Aleksandr Kerzhakov

The Russian striker was a comedy of errors in the opposition's final third, missing chance after chance.

Against a wide open Czech side that were obviously ripe for the taking, Kerzhakov took shot after shot and missed the target every time.  To put it in perspective, his replacement, Roman Pavlyuchenko, came on after 73 minutes and got an assist and a goal in his 17 minutes.

From there, Kerzhakov's tournament just kept getting worse.

In the end, in 189 minutes of play, the Zenit striker took 14 shots and missed the target with each one.

Mark Van Bommel

For a captain of AC Milan and the Netherlands, it's hard not to expect a good showing from Mark van Bommel.

Sure, no one expected him to go out and score goals or create chances, but doing his job in the defensive midfield was kind of a given.

Instead, he utterly failed to control the midfield, as evidenced by Schweinsteiger's two assists in the German match.

His being dropped for the Portugal match may have been more a tactical move than because of his poor play, but it was still quite a statement for the captain to not play in the must-win match.

Gerard Pique

He may still be in the tournament, but that is more of a testament to Gerard Pique's teammates than his play in this tournament.

The usually solid centre-back has not had many questions asked of him in this tournament (thanks to the Spanish midfield), but when they have been asked, he has not responded very well.

Against Italy, it was his mistake that led to Antonio Di Natale's goal.

In the Croatia match, he lost track of his opponents on multiple occasions.

Even in the quarterfinal match with France, he had a few early giveaways that could have been costly against a more threatening side.

His play hasn't yet been too detrimental to Spain's hopes of repeating as Euro champions, but the Barcelona man has been having an uncharacteristically poor tournament.

Arjen Robben

I guess one could have seen Robben's performances coming after the psychologically crippling Champions League final performance he put in with Bayern, but he still played pretty badly.

In almost every match, Robben's threats were neutralized.  As a result, the winger who created so many scoring plays for Munich this season created none in Poland and Ukraine.

It's true that he didn't get much support, but Robben was still quite a disappointment.

Milan Baroš

Do you remember one thing Milan BaroŠ did at Euro 2012?  Yeah, me neither.

The 30-year-old striker seemed much older than that for the Czech Republic, a sad final memory given his great play for them in the past.

The only statistic you need to know about BaroŠ at Euro 2012: in the quarterfinal against Portugal, he failed to have a touch of the ball in the Portuguese box.

Christian Eriksen

Before the tournament, many (including myself, mind you) thought Christian Eriksen was poised for a breakout performance on a big stage.

Instead, the 20-year-old Ajax playmaker wilted, giving almost no contribution to his Denmark side.

Is he just over-hyped?  Maybe, but he was certainly a disappointment.

Karim Benzema

After tallying 32 goals with Real Madrid this season, one would think Karim Benzema was in a good position to have a good tournament with France.

Instead, he seemed out of sync the entire time.

Sure, his service was not there for him (especially in the quarterfinal match), but every time the ball came to him his touch seemed to fail him.

I expected more from Benzema.

Robin Van Persie

After being the top scorer in the Premier League with Arsenal this past season with 37 goals, Robin van Persie was painfully off target at Euro 2012.

Against Denmark, he wasted chance after chance.

In the Germany match, he finally netted one, but only after the match had been decided against his side.

It was just an awful tournament for RvP.

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