Euro 2012 is meant to offer the public a total exhibition of attacking football from Europe’s finest strikers. In fact, it is an obligation, not a confirmation –as long as flopping or getting seriously injured during the tournament is a miserable option that could tarnish the fate of anyone among our 7-man shortlist.
Every listed striker enters UEFA Euro 2012 with the task to shine. With hard work and skill, they have evolved from kicking balls in a park to making history for club and country.
These are the 7 star strikers who must fight to protect their glittering pride and become UEFA Euro 2012 immortals.
1) Cristiano Ronaldo
He leads the way as the European striker with the most number of goals during the just-ended 2011/12 season. He was influential during Portugal’s UEFA Euro 2012 qualification campaign, scoring 7 goals in the process.
In the previous edition of the European Championship, an ankle injury prevented Cristiano Ronaldo from playing at full force. This year, the Portugal captain enters Euro 2012 with no fitness problem.
Eight years have gone by since he first graced the continental competition. At the age of 19, Ronaldo captured the public’s attention with his distinctive style of play.
However, he suffered a fatal heartbreak in the final as Greece beat Portugal to lift the Euro 2004 trophy. He faces an enormous challenge at UEFA Euro 2012 as the Portuguese national team must overcome Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands in Group B.
2) Arjen Robben
He is very often compared to the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Indeed, Arjen Robben has pace and his left-footed shots can let the ball curl stunningly into the back of the net.
From close range, though, Robben must improve. In the final of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the Dutch missed a crucial one-on-one chance to score a goal for the Netherlands. The former Real Madrid winger missed crucial penalties against Borussia Dortmund and Chelsea during the 2011/12 club football season.
Subsequently, Arjen Robben has become a target for mockery among some football fans. To silence his critics, he will need to focus and avoid woeful blunders during UEFA Euro 2012.
3) Robin van Persie
Almost single-handedly, Robin van Persie lifted Arsenal from the second half of the English Premier League table to a remarkable third-place finish. The 2011/12 EPL top scorer bagged 6 goals for the Netherlands during the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifiers.
He is experiencing the best years of his career thus far. At UEFA Euro 2012, Robin van Persie could considerably close the gap that exists in award polls between him and reigning FIFA Ballon d’Or Player of the Year Lionel Messi.
The 28-year-old is good with both feet. With Arsenal, RVP has developed his passing skills. He does not always score but he does know how and when to feed a team mate with the ball. Robin van Persie finished the season with a total of 15 assists and 37 goals in 47 matches. Do not be surprised if he tops the goal scorers chart at UEFA Euro 2012.
4) Karim Benzema
In a team where Cristiano Ronaldo is the most expensive and effective player, Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema has managed to defend his position and gain regular call-ups in the starting XI.
The French striker’s development since the past few years has been positive. Numbers speak for themselves. In three seasons with Real Madrid, he has done better than what he could do during his five-year spell at Olympique Lyonnais.
At Lyon, Benzema scored 66 goals and made 18 assists in a total of 148 appearances. With Los Blancos, he has found the net 67 times and provided 28 assists in 133 matches.
Karim Benzema possesses the assistance of Franck Ribery and Samir Nasri in the French national team. Fresh from scoring a brace in France’s last warm-up game against Estonia on June 5, Karim Benzema is expected to embarrass goalkeepers at UEFA Euro 2012.
5) Miroslav Klose
He is a national team legend. His stats for the DFB Eleven surpass those of many other top European strikers at international level.
Miroslav Klose counts a number of awards in his cabinet. This includes the 2002 FIFA World Cup Silver Shoe and the 2006 FIFA World Cup Golden Shoe.
Klose is a big tournament player. During the qualifiers, he netted 9 goals and finished second behind the Netherlands’ Klaas-Jan Huntelaar in the goal scorers chart. With 14 World Cup goals, Klose is on the brink of becoming the FIFA World Cup competition’s all-time top scorer.
Germany will rely on his shooting skills to unlock immortality in the “group of death”. He will celebrate his 34th birthday on June 9. Will he teach scoring lessons to Cristiano Ronaldo and the rest of the Portuguese team on that day?
6) Fernando Torres
Four years ago, Fernando Torres scored the most important goal of his career to shut down Germany and offer the golden 2008 European Championship trophy to the Spanish national team.
In the absence of David Villa, Fernando Torres will be given a bigger role to perform at UEFA Euro 2012. He has had enough of spending a lot of time on the bench with Chelsea but that is what you get when you have a poor scoring record.
However, when picking his final man-squad for UEFA Euro 2012, Spain’s Vicente Del Bosque could just not afford to overlook the glorious achievement of Fernando Torres at Euro 2008.
To repay the coach’s faith in him, Fernando Torres must avoid making errors that would cost Spain’s chances of retaining their European title.
7) Wayne Rooney
Wayne Rooney has never had a positive experience with England in a major tournament. At the 2004 European Championship, Wayne Rooney suffered an injury the quarter-finals ag
ainst Portugal. England exited the competition that same day.
In Germany 2006, Rooney was overshadowed by ex-Manchester United team mate Cristiano Ronaldo. His stomp on Portugal’s Ricardo Carvalho got him red-carded in controversial circumstances where Ronaldo begged the referee to send him out.
Wayne Rooney did not feature at the 2008 European Championship as England did not qualify. During South Africa 2010, his poor performance mirrored the entire team’s abysmal display.
Rooney is now in an interesting situation. His UEFA Euro 2012 campaign will first depend on the efforts of his England team mates in the first couple of matches. Wayne Rooney will start the tournament on the final group stage match day due to suspension.
If England are not out of Euro 2012 after the France and Sweden games, Wayne Rooney will have to make the most of his fresh legs and power the Three Lions to a long and successful campaign.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and co set to face challenge
Aside these 7 star strikers, other names come to mind. Sweden’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Italy’s Mario Balotelli, Germany’s Mario Gomez are all part of a bunch of strikers who could cause serious damage against opponents at UEFA Euro 2012.
Will an unfamiliar name top the chart of goal scorers?
