Here is a look at the top 5 flops of Euro 12, so far.

5 – Gregory van der Wiel

van der Wiel is supposed to be a great player on the right side of the football pitch but all he did throughout the tournament was getting dispossessed. It was as if he hated the ball! Last night, Cristiano Ronaldo made a mockery out of van der Wiel, beating him at every single chance he got.

van der Wiel is also supposed to be great when going forward but he could never do it over the course of these three games. Well, one can’t put all the blame on the Ajax star, after all, Netherlands were cumulatively poor.

4 – Mario Balotelli

You can love him, you can hate him but you just can’t ignore him. On one side, the German Mario was firing all barrels but the Italian Mario was doing just the opposite.

In the game against Spain, he was probably the flop of the match. He didn’t create even a single chance and was too complacent with the ball. Only by replacing him with Di Natale, Italy could get a goal. Surprisingly, he was handed another start against Croatia. This time though, he was much better. He made the right runs at the right times but once again was toothless in front of goal.

Still, one more group game remains for Italy. Will Balotelli find redemption?

3 – Christian Eriksen

The Euro 12 was supposed to be the much hyped Christian Eriksen’s chance to impress the world scouts. In the game against Netherlands, he was hardly visible on the pitch and didn’t create a single chance.

He was neither winning tackles nor keeping possession. Against Portugal, he couldn’t really fathom anything as the Portuguese midfield was much better. In the final game against Germany, he was moved to the wings. Quite frankly, he was the worst player on the pitch.

Despite the Danes doing good, Mr. Eriksen was a complete flop.

2 - Wojciech Szcz?sny

Szcz?sny was undoubtedly one of Arsenal‘s top players last season. He had a great season with the London club and was naturally Poland’s No.1 ‘keeper.

In the first game against Greece, Szcz?sny was responsible for the first goal with a horrible mistake and later got sent off, needlessly conceding a penalty. Przemys?aw Tyto?, the reserve keeper came and saved the penalty. Despite being available after serving suspension for the game against Czech Republic, Szcz?sny was dropped. Two moments of madness from Szcz?sny have cost Poland a chance to progress to the next rounds in Euro.

1 – Robin van Persie

It all began in that first game against Denmark. Despite being really good in the link-up play, van Persie’s night was forgettable in front of the goal. After having a tremendous season with Arsenal, van Persie couldn’t find a single goal from an array of chances against Denmark.

Against Germany, his first half was not too good. He missed two really good chances but he finally scored in the second half with a right footed goal. Still, it was too little too late. Netherlands went on to lose their second game in row. The game against Portugal was make or break for Netherlands, well they had to make and Denmark had to break against Germany. Despite wholesale criticism, van Persie was picked in the starting XI and totally failed to justify his selection. To put it nicely, we can say that he lacked confidence.

Well, van Persie did score a goal and he wasn’t that bad. But, for a player of his caliber, it was indeed a poor performance.

(P.S : Thank god I didn’t do this yesterday, I would’ve included Cristiano Ronaldo)

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