Euro 2008 Flops XI

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It’s been a great football feast over the past three weeks with some excellent individual and collective performances.

Some players have met expectations and some have failed to live up to the hype.

There were 345 players left Euro 2008 disappointed but Reuters had selected 11 of them to compile into the Flops of the Tournament XI.

Here’s the full list:

Goalkeeper	Petr Čech
AFP/Getty Images	One of the world's best goalkeepers made a schoolboy error by dropping a straightforward catch that allowed Turkey to revive and knock the Czech Republic out. So unfortunate for a player who has earned a reputation as the one you would never have picked to make such a mistake. EURO 2008 quick stats Appearances: 3 Mins. Played: 283 Goals conceded: 6

Defender

Willy Sagnol

AFP/Getty Images

Struggling for fitness in these finals, made just nine Bundesliga appearances for Bayern Munich this season because of knee and hernia problems. He was being left completely by Arjen Robben as the Dutch struck a third, only seconds after he finished celebrating an assist for Thierry Henry's goal. Lost his place to François Clerc against Italy. EURO 2008 quick stats Appearances: 2 Mins. Played: 187 Goals scored: 0

Defender

Lilian Thuram

REUTERS/Eddie Keogh

Had a difficult night against the Netherlands, making several uncharacteristic errors and involved in all four goals conceded by France. His case is a warning to all other ageing players, who fancy one more shot at the big stage. Once time has been called on an international playing career, the football is best left to the younger generation. EURO 2008 quick stats Appearances: 2 Mins. Played: 187 Goals scored: 0

Defender	Roman Shirokov
EMPICS	Never to be seen again after a mediocre performance in defence against Spain, pounded by four goals and all from counter-attacks. His assist in Roman Pavlyuchenko's goal slightly made up for his poor campaign. EURO 2008 quick stats Appearances: 1 Mins. Played: 94 Goals scored: 0

Defender	Eric Abidal
EMPICS	Having been left out against the Netherlands, the versatile Barcelona defender returned in central defence and had an unhappy evening after he brought down Italy’s Luca Toni for a penalty and straight red card, which virtually meant au revoir Les Bleus. EURO 2008 quick stats Appearances: 2 Mins. Played: 118 Goals scored: 0

Midfielder	Ebi Smolarek
Sky Sports	Poland's qualifying hero with nine goals but had a very disappointing tournament, managed just 3 shots in the tournament. In the end, he was personally and publicly blamed by his coach for his team’s failure. EURO 2008 quick stats Appearances: 3 Mins. Played: 226 Goals scored: 0

Midfielder	Daniele De Rossi
REUTERS/Michael Dalder	Daniele De Rossi was supposed to be the purring engine at the heart of the Italian midfield but instead operated like a Vespa on the wrong fuel. Voted Man of the Match against France, but was culpable for Italy's exit as he failed to score in the penalty shoot-out against Spain. EURO 2008 quick stats Appearances: 3 Mins. Played: 310 Goals scored: 1

Midfielder	Angelos Basinas
AFP/Getty Images	Four years ago he was central to Greece's success but this time he was anonymous. Tried to be the missing link between defence and attack, but his efforts were not always successful. Looked jaded in the last match against Spain. EURO 2008 quick stats Appearances: 3 Mins. Played: 279 Goals scored: 0

Midfielder	Florent Malouda
EMPICS	Has not scored for France for 21 months despite earning 19 caps during that period. Reproduced the awful form he has been showing all season for Chelsea. Raymond Domenech's decision to choose Samir Nasri instead for the injured Franck Ribéry, reflects a disappointing campaign for the 28-year-old. EURO 2008 quick stats Appearances: 2 Mins. Played: 154 Goals scored: 0

Forward	Mario Gómez
AFP/Getty Images	Missed an open goal against Poland and Austria. After making three starts during the group phase but contributed next to nothing, coach Joachim Löw seeing sense in the quarter-finals to finally drop him to the bench, and didn’t re-emerge for the rest of the tournament. EURO 2008 quick stats Appearances: 4 Mins. Played: 215 Goals scored: 0

Forward	Luca Toni
AFP/Getty Images	Has completely lost his touch in front of goal. The statistics show that at least 75% of his shots were off target, only 2 were on target, and only 1 was blocked, from his total of 12 shots. Going from 40 goals in his brilliant debut season with Bayern Munich to zero goals at Euro 2008 surely deserves some criticism. EURO 2008 quick stats Appearances: 4 Mins. Played: 403 Goals scored: 0

Head Coach	Roberto Donadoni
Sky Sports	Guided the Italians to a disappointing campaign in which the Azzurri were thumped 3-0 by the Netherlands in the opening match and spared a group-stage elimination by Gianluigi Buffon's penalty save against Romania in the second match. Has been sacked as Italy's coach for his team's defeat to Spain in the quarter-final. Italy's record under Donadoni Games Win Draw Lose 23 13 4 6

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Also see:

• Euro 2008 most memorable moments
• Euro 2008 Team of the Tournament
• Xavi named Euro 2008 MVP
• Stars left out of Euro 2008
• Euro 1980-2008 mascots