From Kylian Mbappe to Bruno Fernandes: Euro 2020 biggest flops XI
The Business Standard (TBS) brings you the biggest flop XI featuring the worst players of this summer's Euro 2020.
From the unfortunate incident of Christian Eriksen's cardiac arrest to the unbeaten run of the new Champion, Italy, France's shocking exit to Denmark, Ukraine and Switzerland's mind-blowing performances, Euro 2020 couldn't be much more thrilling and full of excitement.
But the story is not the same for all the players. For some players, it was just a forgettable tournament.
The Business Standard (TBS) brings you the biggest flop XI featuring the worst players of this summer's Euro 2020.
GK - Wojciech Szczęsny (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.
RB - 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.
CB - 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.
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.
CB - Caglar Soyuncu (Turkey)
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.
LB - Ezgjan Alioski ( North Macedonia)
It was the first major tournament for North Macedonia as an independent nation. They had few star players, but couldn't manage to play in the round of 16.
Ezgjan Alioski is one of their star players. He plays for Leeds United in the Premier League. Though coming off a decent league campaign, he didn't continue his league form into Euro 2020.
CM - Marten De Roon (Netherlands)
Marten De Roon is certainly a prominent talent for the Orange. De Roon had a superb season for Atlanta.
He was expected to protect the backline for the Dutch. But De Roon failed to duplicate that form in this summer tournament.
CM -Aleksandr Golovin (Russia)
Russia surprised many people with their in the 2018 FIFA World Cup. he scored a goal and provided two assists. He also made eight tackles in that tournament.
But this time fate was not in his side. Russia looked well and truly blunted in Euro 2020 and finished bottom of the group.
CAM - Bruno Fernandes (Portugal)
It was a successful 18 months for Fernandes at Manchester United. He scored twice in the last friendly match against Isreal.
In this tournament, the playmaker was a disappointment for Portugal. He ended up being dropped to the bench after the opening two group games.
RW -Cengiz Under (Turkey)
It was a disappointing tournament for Turkey and the Roma winger. He did not manage to create any special moment to remember throughout the tournament.
LW - Hakan Calhanoglu (Winger, Turkey)
Hakan Calhanoglu has shown excellent form at the club level. But in the tournament, he was often exposed by his technical prowess and sometimes lack of pace was visible.
He created 3.5 chances per game in Serie A. This ratio fell to 2.3 in Euro 2020.
FW - Serge Gnabry (Germany)
Serge Gnabry had scored 16 goals in just 22 appearances for Die Mannschaft. But the winger looked totally different in Euro 2020.
His average was just 1.4 shots per 90 for Germany. And it was fewer than one of his defensive teammates Mats Hummels.
FW - Kylian Mbappe (Forward, France)
No one expected to see this name in this list. Mbappe was brilliant in the last World Cup and people witnessed exactly the opposite Mbappe in Euro 2020.
The PSG superstar may have taken the most shots for France. But guess what he could not find the net at least once in this tournament.