Best XI of Players Who Will Not Feature at Euro 2016
With 24 teams set to participate, UEFA Euro 2016 will feature most of the continent's top talent. But not all of Europe's best footballers will take to the pitches in France next summer.
Despite the expanded format of the tournament, Euro 2016 will miss out on several great footballers. Today at Bleacher Report, we're making a best XI of players who won't feature in France.
To qualify, the player must have taken part in qualification with a team that missed out on the final tournament.
Once you've seen our list, be sure to add your suggestions to the comments section.
Goalkeeper
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Asmir Begovic was a stalwart for Bosnia and Herzegovina in qualifying, playing every minute of the campaign—including both legs of the playoff loss to Republic of Ireland.
The goalkeeper has been in good form at the club level as well, enjoying an extended run in Chelsea's starting lineup following an injury to starter Thibaut Courtois.
But after Bosnia lost out to Ireland in the playoffs, we won't see Begovic in France next summer.
Defenders
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The back line was somewhat tricky to select.
At right-back, we wanted to avoid the obvious selection of Serbia's Branislav Ivanovic, who has been in awful form this season for Chelsea. With few viable options available, we pondered a pair of Greek defenders—Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Vasilis Torosidis—who aren't necessarily right-backs by trade.
However, both are capable of playing there, and we went with Papastathopoulos because of his experience at Euro 2012 and World Cup 2014.
At center-back, we selected Daley Blind of the Netherlands and Manchester United alongside Denmark's Daniel Agger. Both of these players also bring flexibility to the team, with Blind capable of playing in the midfield and Agger available for left-back duty if needed.
Finally, our left-back is Aleksandar Kolarov of Serbia and Manchester City. The 30-year-old has a fearsome left foot, is a dangerous option in the attack and can deliver a fierce free kick when called upon.
Midfielders
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We opted for a five-man midfield that might look a bit unbalanced in practice. But since this team won't ever play an actual match, we've decided to include who we thought were the best players available.
At defensive midfield, we've opted for Serbia's Nemanja Matic, who admittedly hasn't shown his best form this season for Chelsea. Nonetheless, Matic is a top-class midfielder, as Milos Ceko noted for Goal in 2014:
"The man who played just 43 Premier League minutes in his first spell at Chelsea now boasts everything you would look for in a defensive midfielder. He is very strong and easily outmuscles his opponents, his tackling is superb and his interceptions timed to perfection. His ability to read the game and pick the perfect moment to swoop in and recover possession is second to none. He's not bad in the air, either.
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Bosnia and Herzegovina's Miralem Pjanic also receives the nod in the middle as a deep-lying playmaker, while Denmark's Christian Eriksen is deployed further forward. Both players are renowned for their creative abilities and bring excellent passing skills to the team.
Out on the wings, we give starting berths to Arjen Robben of the Netherlands and Armenia's Henrikh Mkhitaryan. The latter started the Bundesliga season in sizzling form for Borussia Dortmund, while the former is just returning from an injury to boost Bayern Munich's attacking options.
Center-Forward
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We had room for only one center-forward in our team, and we chose Bosnia and Herzegovina's Edin Dzeko over Robin van Persie and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar of the Netherlands.
Dzeko finished qualifying with eight goals, which tied for the third-best total across the continent. Though Bosnia were a disappointment, Dzeko did his part up front. His goal late in the first leg of the playoffs against Republic of Ireland gave Bosnia hope, but his side were ultimately undone by Jonathan Walters' brace in the return leg.
"We had to be more efficient at home because we knew it would be difficult here," Dzeko said after the second leg, per FourFourTwo.
He added: "We have to move on. We had a good chance, but we haven't achieved our goal."
Full Team and Your Say
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Here is our full team: Begovic; Sokratis, Blind, Agger, Kolarov; Matic, Pjanic, Mkhitaryan, Eriksen, Robben; Dzeko.
Who would make your best XI of players not going to Euro 2016? Let us know in the comments.
