Flop XI of Euro 2020
After an enticing 30 days of action-packed football, Euro 2020 is down to its last two teams - England and Italy. Following a tour through 11 different cities, the final of Euro 2020 will be held at the Wembley in London.
England started their campaign with an impressive five consecutive clean sheets and beat Denmark in extra time to reach their first European Championship final. Meanwhile, Italy, the other unbeaten team in the tournament, kicked off their Euro 2020 campaign against a lacklustre Turkish side. The Azzurri then beat Spain on penalties to reach the final of the 16th European Championship, their fourth in competition history.
From the unfortunate incident of Christian Eriksen's cardiac arrest to the 'Group of death' featuring three former champions, Euro 2020 has seen it all both on and off the pitch. From an epic Round-of-16 clash between Croatia and Spain to Italy's 33-match unbeaten streak, from France's shock early exit to Ukraine and Denmark's spirited performances, Euro 2020 has produced much thrill and excitement.
But for some players, Euro 2020 was nothing but a forgettable campaign. On that note, let's have a look at a hypothetical XI (in a 4-3-3 formation) of players from various teams who underwhelmed at Euro 2020. Without further ado, let's get started.
Goalkeeper - Wojciech Szczฤsny (Poland)
Poland suffered a forgettable Euro 2020 campaign, as they finished bottom of Group E.
Polish stopper Wojciech Szczesny had a tournament to forget, as he leaked six goals in three Euro 2020 games. He also set an unwanted record when he became the first goalkeeper to score an own goal in European Championships history.
In the group game against Slovakia, Szczesny failed to stop Robert Mak's effort that ricocheted off his shoulder and into the net.
With that own goal, Szczesny's rotten luck at the Euros continued. He was shown a red card on the opening day of Euro 2012 and was ruled out of the 2016 edition of the tournament due to injury after playing a single game.
Right-back - Benjamin Pavard (France)
Benjamin Pavard hit the ground running at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. He scored an absolutely outrageous volley against Argentina in what was one of the best goals of the tournament.
But France had a poor outing at Euro 2020, with Pavard's performance at the tournament being no different. Especially against Hungary, the Bayern Munich defender repeatedly offered himself as an outlet for attack but could not create much.
He was found out of position when Hungary scored an amazing counter-attacking goal. At Euro 2020, his clearances dropped from 3.7 at the 2018 World Cup to 1.3 per 90 minutes. Moreover, on the offensive side, Pavard only managed to create one chance in three games in the tournament.
Centre-back - Ruben Dias (Portugal)
After a magnificent debut in the Premier League, which saw him win the FWA Footballer of the Year and the Premier League Player of the Season awards, big things were expected from Ruben Dias at Euro 2020. But despite pecking in at the centre of Portugal's defence alongside the 38-year-old Pepe, Dias looked uncharacteristically shaky throughout.
He fared reasonably solidly on the ground, winning 72% of his tackles compared to Pepe's 54%. But it was in the aerial duels that he struggled, coming on top just 46% times.
Bullied by Mainz's Adam Szalai in Portugal's Euro 2020 opener, Dias scored an own goal against Germany and was outpaced by Karim Benzema. Dias also failed to close down Thorgan Hazard as the defending champions crashed out of Euro 2020 in the last 16. It was quite simply a tournament to forget for Dias.
Centre-back - Caglar Soyuncu (Turkey)
ls conceded and just one scored. Turkey had a catastrophic campaign at Euro 2020.
Dubbed by many as the dark horses before the tournament began because of the quality of their starting XI, Turkey failed to live up to that hype. The main reason for their downfall was their poor defence. Only North Macedonia conceded as many goals as Turkey in the Euro 2020 group stage.
Caglar Soyuncu, the main face of Turkey's defence, had a tournament to forget at Euro 2020. His tackling rate was just 40% in the tournament, and he made zero interceptions with his feet.
Compared to his Premier League numbers last season, Soyuncu's ground duel success rate dipped from 54% to 38% per 90 minutes. There is no doubt that the 25-year old is a great talent to reckon with, but Euro 2020 was a campaign he would like to forget in a hurry.
Left-back - Ezgjan Alioski (North Macedonia)
Not much was expected from North Macedonia at Euro 2020, even when they qualified for a major tournament as an independent nation for the first time. They had a few star players to ruffle the feathers of the big boys at Euro 2020. Unfortunately, that did not happen. Led by veteran striker Goran Pandev, North Macedonia finished last in their group and won none of their games.
One of their star players was Ezgjan Alioski, who plays for Leeds United in the Premier League. The 29-year-old left-back was expected to provide width to the team on both sides of the pitch. But despite coming off a decent league campaign, he failed to replicate that form at Euro 2020.
Alioski did score a goal in the tournament against Ukraine, but that was a rebound off his missed penalty. His Premier League defensive actions per 90 minutes dropped from 2.7 to 0.8 at Euro 2020. His aerial duel success rate also dropped by half, from 50% to 25%.
Though the likes of Luke Shaw, Leonardo Spinazzola, Joakim Maehle, Robin Gosens and a few other left-backs have had excellent Euro 2020 campaigns, Alioski was certainly not among them.